The Return
by lilysspace
Summary: After six years away, Willow finally returns to Ipswich, to reunite with 4 friends in the only place she could ever call home. Characters new and old appear...Enjoy!
1. Prologue: Thoughts

Six years

I'd been gone for six years. I'd left without the chance to explain, without being able to really say goodbye. I haven't returned since.

Sure we'd kept in contact through emails, IMs and even written letters, but it wasn't the same. It had been six years since I'd seen them face-to-face. I wondered how they'd changed and whether or not they'd recognize me. Of course, they'd sent me pictures over the years…them at parties, dances, what should have been_ our_ Jr. High graduation...but I had never sent any back. Lucky for me it was a well known fact that I hated cameras and I definitely used this to my advantage. Despite their complaints, I'd never sent any pictures of me in return because since I'd left my eyes didn't have the same light and 'sparkle' they used to. I never wanted them to see that.

Now I was barreling toward Spenser, to the friends I'd left behind. Every yard that flew past, my nerves increased tenfold. All I could do to keep myself calm was breathe and brace myself for what may lay ahead.

_Just breathe._

I just revved my engine and sped closer to my reunion.

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A/N: Cryptic I know, just bear with me, hopefully you'll find that it gets better.

Disclaimer: Obviously I can't take credit for any of the original characters or story line, but at least Willow is mine.


	2. Homecoming

**Pogue's POV**

She was late, 25 minutes late.

_Where is she?_

The guys were getting restless, well at least Caleb was. It was late Saturday night and he and I had just finished helping Sara and Kate unpack from Winter break, so we were obviously exhausted. Apparently the girls were very particular about their closets, whatever. Caleb was by far the hardest to get out here, all the wuss wanted to do was go home and collapse, not that I blamed him. Reid and Tyler were surprisingly easy to convince. Tyler, with his ridiculous study habits, was in his room reading when I went to get him, but I was surprised to find Reid there too. I half expected to break up another one of his spats with Aaron Abbot, so seeing him at his desk was a shocker.

After some coaxing, or bribery to be more specific, I was finally able to get everyone, the guys and the girls, out to the dorm steps. We had been waiting for almost half an hour.

"Pogue, what is this about? It's freezing and we've been waiting out here forever," Caleb complained, obviously tired and irritated.

"I know, just a couple more minutes, just wait. I promised not to say anything but it'll be worth it, just trust me," I replied, hoping I was right. Frankly an irate Caleb was the worst Caleb to be around.

It was then that a single headlight turned onto the street.

"Finally," I exhaled.

Caleb's jaw dropped, "Dude, is that…?" He never finished his question. I turned to see that all signs of annoyance had disappeared from his face and were replaced by excitement and a grin.

"Yup," was all I could get out before she pulled up.

**Willow's POV**

I was late. I was late and Pogue was gonna kill me. Damn that freight train and its horrible timing, of course it had to appear right when I got to the railroad crossing.

Eventually though, I made it to Spenser and turned onto the road that led to the dorm entrance. That's when I spotted them, standing on the steps in the freezing cold, just like Pogue said they would be. I couldn't help but smile. The closer I got, the less nervous and more excited I became.

_Home. I'm finally home._

I pulled up in front of them and immediately noticed that Caleb's jaw was on floor. _Looks like Pogue really was able to keep his mouth shut_. I killed my engine and swung my left leg over, hopping off my bike so my back was facing them. I quickly tore off my gloves and unzipped my riding jacket. Then I pulled off my helmet and gave me hair a little shake, hoping that I didn't have a bad case of helmet head. Finally, I turned around beaming at the family I had left behind.

"Hey guys. Didya miss me?"

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A/N: Its a bit shorter than I planned, but I wanted to end it with that line.

Disclaimer: Right now, all I can lay claim to is Willow...everything else is obviously not mine


	3. Surprises and Reunions

**Willow's POV**

"Willow Parry," Caleb said, once he had gotten around to picking his jaw off the floor.

"Caleb Danvers," I replied, trying to sound as serious as possible. That didn't last long because once the words left my mouth, he rushed me into one of his famous hugs, lifting me off of the floor.

"Hey, no fair," a voice said interrupting our fun. "I should have gotten first hug."

Caleb put me down and we both turned to Pogue.

"No way, I'm first born, I definitely had the rights to the first hug," Caleb quipped.

Pogue replied, obviously annoyed, "Well excuse me oh fearless leader, but I'm pretty sure that blood trumps birth right any day." He walked to me and gave me a brotherly hug.

"You know he's right," another voice interrupted. "Willow _is_ his cousin," Tyler said walking over to me.

"Tyler!," I exclaimed. "God I missed you." Then I pulled him into a bone crushing hug. I stepped back to take a good look at him. He was grinning, obviously stoked that I had shown up. I playfully punched him asking, "When the hell did you get so tall?"

He laughed, joy lighting up his face. "Oh, sometime over the last six years. Probably around the same time you got so hot." That was my Tyler, I was worried that he wouldn't be the same, I had heard from the others that he had become one of those shy guys. Heck, I even picked up on it from all the emails he sent, he was definitely not the ladies man that the others had evolved into. I hoped that he wouldn't be like that around me, I really wanted to go back to being partners-in-crime and it looked like I would be getting my wish.

"Hey that's my cousin you're talking about. I know that you're my brother, but I have no problem kicking your ass," Pogue threatened.

"Oh cuz," I said, walking over to give him another hug, "I can't say that I missed the over protective attitude."

"Who cares, so long as you missed _something _about me," he countered.

"Speaking of missing someone, you guys never answered my question," I whined.

Caleb laughed, "Willow, you've been gone for six years and we haven't seen you at all since you've left. Of course we miss you."

"Yeah, what kind of question is that?," Tyler added, coming in for another hug.

*Ahem*

I pulled away from Tyler so I could see the person that had not-so-subtly asserted herself. "Kate!," I squealed, unable to stop myself.

"Willow!," she squealed right back, as she ran down the steps to get in on the hug action. "You know I was waiting for you to notice me, it took you long enough," she joked as she pulled away. "And for the record, I missed you too."

"Good because I feel exactly the same about you. Gosh, if it wasn't for those pictures Pogue sends me, I never would have recognized you. You look amazing."

"Why thank you, you don't look too bad yourself. I'm so glad you're back. Ugh, I can't believe Pogue kept this from me," she said shooting him a pointed look and hitting his shoulder.

"No don't blame Pogue," I interjected, trying my best to protect my cousin. "Keeping this whole thing a secret was my idea, so there's no reason to be mad at him."

Pogue laughed. "I knew there was a reason you were my favorite cousin," he sounded relieved.

"Pogue, I'm you're only cousin," I deadpanned.

"True," he conceded. Then he nodded toward Caleb. "I think he has someone he wants you to meet. You should get to it before he spontaneously combusts."

"Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed as a sudden wave of realization hit me. I turned to an unfamiliar blond standing between Kate and Caleb. I'm so sorry, I totally forgot that you don't know who I am. I'm Willow Parry, you must be Sara." She nodded. "Kate and Caleb have told me so much about you," I added as I held out my right hand.

She took my hand and smiled, "Only good things I hope."

"Definitely, these two like you too much to say anything else," I replied, gesturing between Caleb and Kate. "I'm so glad to finally meet you."

"Same here, the guys talk about you non-stop whenever they take a stroll down memory lane," she joked.

"Now I know that those stories don't contain all good things." I looked around to Tyler, Caleb and Pogue, "You guys are lucky I love you because otherwise you would seriously be dealing with my wrath."

"Oh, scary," Caleb cut in and we all broke out laughing.

Once we had gotten control of ourselves, I noticed that the guys were giving each other pointed looks. When Tyler looked at me, I scrunched my eyebrows and titled my head in confusion. He only lifted his chin toward the top of the steps in explanation. I instantly understood, so I took a deep breath and started toward the top of the stairs.

And there he stood, in all his 5'11 blue-eyed glory with a smirk on his face. Confidence was definitely not something that this kid was missing. Oh how I wanted to smack that smirk off his face.

"Hi, Reid."

"Hey Willow, long time no see," he replied, still looking smug.

"Yeah, too long," I said. Then he drew me into a hug that made up for my six year absence.

"It's freezing out here let's get you inside." Pogue interjected. _Stupid overprotective cousin of mine, gosh I love him._ "Hey Will, I have your parking permit so if you fork over the keys to that awesome bike of yours I can move it to the lot for you."

"Cool thanks," I said as I tossed over my keys. "Just remember that it's a Harley, not a Ducati. Show it some respect." He laughed as he turned the key and sped off toward the lot while the rest of us headed inside.

My five tour guides led me up to my room, which happened to be sandwiched on the floor between Kate and Sara's and Tyler and Reid's rooms. Thanks to the last name and some string pulling, I walked into a single with a nice view of the front steps. I was glad not to have a roommate to bother whenever I had one of my restless nights.

Once in my room, it became painfully apparent that it was late and everyone was tired, so we exchanged 'goodnights' and I sent them on their way for some sleep with the promise of conversation tomorrow. That left me alone to gain my bearings in an unfamiliar room. It took me a while to locate my night clothes, as my uncle had hired someone to unpack all of my boxes which I had sent ahead of me. After I was changed, just as I was getting ready to enter dreamland, there was a knock at my door. I walked over and opened it slightly to see who it was.

"Hey I just wanted to bring back your keys so you didn't think I was joy riding on that amazing machine of yours," Pogue said smiling as he stepped into my room.

"Thanks," I said. "Did you want a place to crash? There's plenty of room here."

"Nah, I'm good. I need to head back to my apartment. So is everything cool? Did my dear old dad's movers set your room up to your liking? Is there anything you need?"

"No I'm okay, everything's great. I may have to make a store run though, seeing as I have a mini-fridge but no food. Other than that though, I should be fine. I have to remember to call Uncle Nicolas and say thank you," I replied.

"Well that shouldn't be too hard, I can come by tomorrow to help you, just in case you've forgotten your way around Ipswich," he joked.

"That'd be great. Do you think you could come by in the morning some time? I promised everyone that we'd meet up for lunch in the cafeteria, it was the only way I could get them out so we could all get some sleep. I know that I'm in for a lot of talking, so I was hoping to run my errands before that."

"Sure, no problem, I'll meet you out front at about 10, does that sound good?"

"Perfect…Hey listen, you better get going, it's late."

"Yeah, you're right, I'll see you tomorrow morning then?"

"Yup," I answered while trying to bite back a yawn.

"Cool…Willow?," he hesitated before adding, "I'm really glad you're back."

"Me too cuz, me too," I responded pulling him into yet another hug. And with that he turned to leave as I closed the door after him and hoped to gain some sleep.

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A/N: OK so I think I have a pretty clear idea of where this is going, so I should be able to write it fairly quickly. I promise, it will get better in the next chapter or two, just hang in there with me.

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own anything related to the original movie, Willow is the only thing I can lay claim to.


	4. Questions and Answers

**Tyler's POV**

"So where are Pogue and Willow?," Caleb asked as we set down our lunch trays and slid into our seats. It was the day after Willow's surprise return and we had agreed to meet up for lunch.

"Pogue said that they were going out this morning to run errands," Kate responded absentmindedly. "They should be here soon though. I can't imagine what they had to get, he said that his dad paid for people to set up the room before she got here." She was busy making sure the mountain of food on her tray didn't spill.

"Maybe we should wait to eat until they get here, I don't want her to think that we're being rude," Sara worried. I knew she would be concerned with the impression she was making on Willow. We had all made it very clear that she was an important part of our lives and Sara wanted to make sure she was securely on Willow's good side.

"We can wait like fifteen minutes, after that I can't be held responsible for my food related actions. I'm starving, Reid over here dragged me to the gym for a four hour workout just so he can impress Willow," I said while ducking the fork that Reid threw at me. "Aww Reid, don't be so sensitive, I was only joking." Caleb reached over to give me a high five.

"I think for the sake of safety that we should avoid teasing Reid about Willow, especially around Pogue. You know how he can get," Kate worried. She was probably right.

"Why? Is Pogue just as protective of Willow as he is of you?," Sara joked. Little did she know she wasn't far off the mark.

"Try worse. Like he said he has no problem hurting any one of us, so you could imagine what would happen to any other guy," I explained.

"That's kind of a scary prospect. I'd hate to see what would happen if some guy hit on her the next time we're at Nikki's," Sara grimaced.

"Nikki's! We should totally go to Nikki's this Friday. It's the perfect time since it's the start of the semester and we shouldn't have too much work yet. That would be so much fun," Kate clapped excitedly.

Caleb grinned, "That's a good idea, I'm sure that Willow would want to go."

"Great, then it's set, Nikki's Friday night, now we just have to tell the other two," Kate confirmed. She was always the one to plan out our weekend entertainment, that was just the way she was.

I looked to Caleb, "So she's really back then, for good? No more disappearing acts, no more MIA Willow?"

"It looks like it, but I guess we'll have to ask her that," he responded.

Reid looked up from his tray trying to suppress a smile, "No she back, she's not going anywhere."

"That's awesome, it's great that we finally have everyone back in one place," I sighed.

"So you guys really are close, huh?," Sara asked.

"Yeah, we grew up together, up until she moved away. She and I were like partners-in-crime, always finding ways to annoy the crap out of Reid," I reminisced. I had missed those times, growing up the five of us were inseparable and since she's left there was always a void in our group.

"How are she and Pogue cousins? They look nothing alike."

"Their dads are brothers, twins actually. The only reason she doesn't have the signature Parry brown hair and hazel eyes is because of her mom," I explained.

"Yeah, Janet's the reason she's got the whole tanned, dark haired, coffee-eyed beauty thing going on," Reid added. Caleb and I just laughed as he said this, causing another round of silverware to become airborne, this time my own.

"She and Pogue are really close," Kate went on. "He says that she was pretty much the only one that could keep him in line when they were younger. Until I came along of course…But still, he took it pretty hard when she left, they all did," she added, gesturing at us.

"Yeah, that's pretty much the only question that I have. I just wanna know why she left, that and why she chose to wait until halfway through her Senior year to come back," Caleb said.

"Well it looks like you'll be getting your answers soon, here they come," I said, pointing at the entrance.

**Willow's POV**

Thank goodness it was lunch, I was exhausted from having to get up and run stupid errands all morning. Pogue had come by and we had gone by the grocery store and the nearest office supply shop to finish stocking my room. Everything else was set up, but it was up to me to load up on essential snacks and school things. Luckily, we couldn't spend too long at the stores because Pogue and I had taken our bikes, so we were limited to what we could fit into our backpacks and saddlebags. But as much as I enjoyed spending quality time with my cousin I couldn't wait to get back, I was excited to spend some time catching up with the rest of my friends.

"Hey guys," I greeted them as we approached the table. "What's going on?"

"Oh nothing much, just filling Sara in on the familial connection between you and Pogue," Tyler answered. "That and patiently waiting for you two to get here so we could finally start eating."

"You guys didn't have to do that, but I appreciate the gesture," I replied. I looked around at the large dining hall. It matched the rest of Spenser, with its wooden detailing and mahogany dining tables. "So I'm starving, any of you willing to show me what is and is not edible in this place?"

"I'll go, I have to get a new fork anyway," Tyler said, rising out of his chair.

"What happened to your fork?," I asked, genuinely curious.

"Oh the same thing that happened to Reid's," he joked. I couldn't help but notice the death glare that Reid was shooting in Tyler's direction.

"You know what, forget I asked," I amended. Despite my curiosity I didn't want Tyler to have to deal with Reid, that boy was known to have a short fuse. "Lead the way to the food."

Tyler and I linked arms as he led me to the far wall where the counters were set up. Being a private school that catered to families with money, Spenser's food choices were on the better end of the cafeteria food scale. I was however informed that anything seafood should be avoided for fear of the unknown. I laughed as Tyler said this because this certainly seemed the case in every high school cafeteria in the world. After he grabbed some extra silverware and I loaded my tray with a club sandwich, fries, ice tea and two red velvet cupcakes we were ready to head back to the table. I took the chair between Pogue and Tyler and was sitting directly across from Sara.

No sooner had I sat down than Pogue asked, "Are you gonna eat that cupcake?" I swear that boy had an appetite like no other. I noticed that Kate's tray was overflowing with food, most of which was sure to end up in my cousin's stomach.

"See I knew you were gonna ask that question. Good thing I had enough sense to pick up an extra one," I said, handing him the cupcake.

"So how was your morning of errands?," Caleb asked, as we all began tucking in to our food.

"It was good, I'm pretty sure that I have everything I need and then some. I made sure to stock up on food so you guys are welcome to swing by anytime," I responded after swallowing a bite of my sandwich.

"Yeah, she even bought those chocolate snack cake things," Pogue added, after annihilating the cupcake.

"But you hate those things?" Tyler said confused. It was a well known fact among the five of us that I couldn't stand those processed cakes. I always felt they tasted nothing like chocolate and had no right to be marketed as such, however the guys on the other hand loved them.

"Yeah, but we tend to inhale them." Reid interrupted. He clearly understood the reason behind their purchase. "That's Willow for you, always making sure that we're taken care of."

I gave him a small smile, "Yeah well what can I say, for some reason I happen to like you guys." Then I looked around at the rest of the table, "So I guess you have questions, I might was well get them all out of the way now." They all hesitated, unsure whether or not to ask me what was on my mind. "Oh come on, I've been gone for six years, I _know_ that your curious as to why I'm here or at the very least wondering why I left."

Caleb was the first to break the silence, "Well you pretty much summed up all my questions. Some sort of explanation would be nice, if you're okay with giving us one."

"Hey I owe you guys an explanation, I know that. I didn't think that I could come back without you asking for one," I reassured him.

"So why did you leave?," Sara piped up, looking genuinely curious. "None of the guys could ever give me a straight answer on that one." I knew I was going to like her from the way the guys talked about her. From what I was told, Sara was very straight forward and not afraid to ask questions, this seemed to prove that point. I really appreciated those qualities and was really looking forward to being able to call her a friend.

"Well," I started, "the whole why thing is kinda complicated. There was no one reason that I left, more like a culmination of a lot of little things." I knew I was stretching the truth, but there was no way in hell that I was ready to tell the guys what had really caused me to be sent away.

"One of those being a fight with Aaron Abbot," Pogue added, laughing at the memory.

"Wait, what!?!," Sara exclaimed. A look similar to admiration combined with the curiosity in her eyes.

Tyler went on to explain, "When Willow was twelve, she overheard Aaron saying some things and didn't appreciate it. Then she quickly shut him up by giving him the beating of a lifetime." Sara only stared back at me, her jaw on the table.

"That fight was a big factor in the move," I conceded. I turned to Sara so I could fully explain, "What happened was, I overheard Aaron saying some not so pleasant things about the guys, Reid especially. And like Tyler said, I didn't appreciate it so I decided to utilize my 5 years of Taekwondo training to shut him up…"

"And two days later, Willow was shipped off to France," Pogue finished.

I nodded, "But like I said, that wasn't the only reason I left. My parents, well my father especially, thought that he should get me away from an all boy environment and into an all girl one. Everyone else's parents thought he was being overprotective, not wanting me to grow up surrounded by boys. They were the ones that convinced him to keep my here for so long. He was just looking for the one thing that would tip the scale in his favor and that fight happened to be it. So next thing I knew, I found myself on a plane headed for a year-round all-girls school in France.

"The year-round bit was the reason I never came back for a visit. The school breaks we had never really coincided with yours. Well, that and my parents always sent me on trips in between, something about wanting to expand my horizons. Whatever that means," I finished, rolling my eyes.

"So how'd you convince them to let you come back?," Tyler asked.

"I told them the truth, that I didn't want to go off to college without being able to spend time with you guys. I know we'll be going in our separate ways next year, but I at least wanted to take advantaged of the little time we had. Also when we were growing up, Spenser seemed like a certainty on our paths and I didn't want to miss out on the experience. They understood where I was coming from and, after a lot of discussion, finally caved," I responded, shrugging my shoulders.

"But why did you wait until now? Why didn't you come back at the start of the school year?," Caleb pressed.

"It's just how the timing thing played out. Believe me, if I could have, I would have gladly started my senior year here with you guys. But I'm here and all that really matters now is that I'm home," I answered. The guys nodded in agreement, obviously pleased with my return.

The rest of lunch went by uneventfully, we spent the time talking about the start of the new semester and how everyone would react to me homecoming, if they noticed me at all. After spending four hours chatting away, we all split to go in our separate directions. Caleb and Pogue were off to spend some alone time with their girlfriends, Tyler went back to his room to study up on American history and Reid went off to the pool to workout. I explored the campus so I wouldn't get lost the next day walking from class to class, enjoying the chilly Massachusetts air. When I was done with my mini adventure, I went back to my room to mentally prepare myself for what my first day at Spenser would bring.

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A/N: Here's another chapter and it's kind of a long one. I'm hoping to get one up every day or two, like I said I think I know how this story is gonna play out (with the exception of the much needed baddie) so hopefully I can get it out to you quickly. There won't be any major drama for another couple of chapters, I just wanted anyone reading this to get a feel for the new character and how she fits with the others. I also wanted to hammer out the relationships between Willow and the guys before I go ahead and introduce the baddie into the equation.

Also, can I just say how crazy it is that people are actually reading this? I totally didn't expect that. If there is anything that's unclear go ahead and let me know. I've got the story and characters so ingrained into my mind that sometimes I forget that you all don't know what I know, so let me know if there are any holes that need filling or details that need to be addressed.

Disclaimer: The only things I can claim to own are this storyline and Willow, the original story/movie/characters obviously don't belong to me.


	5. Remembering

**Willow's POV**

I passed out around 9:30 last night since my brain was tired from all the worrying I had done. First days were always stressful and to top it off this one was in the middle of the school year, which had the potential to make things exponentially worse. Despite the fact that I had had four first days in the last six years, practice definitely did not make perfect, so I was understandably anxious. After about an hour and a half of worrying, my brain had had enough and shut down, sending me off to a fitful night of sleep.

Due to my early night, I found myself up a few hours before my alarm was set to go off. I just shrugged and jumped out of bed, opting to get ready and so I could use the extra time to calm my nerves. After I threw on the obligatory Spenser uniform and shoved my Mac and a few books into my messenger bag, I plopped down on my bed and waited for Kate to come by. She and Sara had offered to get me so we could head down to breakfast together before the day started.

With the combination of my nerves and the pounding headache I had from last night's adventure in dreamland, I needed a distraction. So I laid back and tried to let my mind turn to the guys and how happy we all were that I had returned. I was eager to fall back into my place in the group, to be surrounded by the four people in this world that I could call my family. I only hoped that my relationship with each of them would be the same as it was six years ago, well with one possible exception.

I sighed and picked up the picture frame on my nightstand, it held the last picture we took together as a group before I left for France. We were in a dog pile, Pogue and Caleb on the bottom, then Tyler and Reid and finally myself on top. I couldn't help but smile every time I looked at it. We were all laughing in response to something that one of the parents had said, if I remember correctly. I missed those times, the sense of security I had when we were all together and the happiness that I felt when I was around them. It had been six years since I had felt that kind of happiness and I was eager to have it back. Eventually, my thoughts drifted to the different connections that I had with each of the guys.

Pogue and I had always been close, our blood ties were only strengthened by the bond we formed growing up together. He always said that I was the only one in our group that really understood what it took to be a Parry, which was obviously true. It was always nice to know that there was someone else right next to you that was being held to the same expectations. While we all came from old money and shared a common background, no one really understood what kind of pressure was on the shoulders of anyone carrying the Parry name. Uncle Nicolas, always had high expectations for his son and tried to enforce them any chance he got. Pogue was never one to obey boundaries that weren't self imposed, even as a kid, so from an early age he would act out just to spite his own father. Eventually this escalated over the years and led to him moving into an apartment in town, to say that his father was disappointed was an understatement.

However, it has to be said that Pogue is _not_ stupid, there was a reason he was at Spenser and a reason he was still on this higher learning path. He knew that success was something that had to be achieved, that it wouldn't be handed to you on a silver platter. Pogue understood that he would have to work if he wanted achieve success on his own terms. That's not to say that he's the perfect student though, since much of his time was occupied by his bike or his girlfriend.

Eventually some of the Parry expectations shifted and were placed on my unsuspecting head. I never had the problem with authority that Pogue had, so it was easier for me to shoulder the burden. It allowed the family to live vicariously through the younger generation while protecting Pogue from familial backlash and I was all about anything that would protect Pogue. It was alright though, because he knew exactly what I was going through, so it only proved to tie us closer together.

Ever since we were younger, we had taken the role as protector for one another, one which has continued over the years. He was the only one of our group to know the real reason behind my departure and the real reason behind my return. With everything that might happen over the coming months, I was glad to have a confidant that understood what exactly was going on and was able to deliver sound advice. He would be my rock when it came time to face the unknown.

Caleb and I were close as well, though our friendship began as a result of his closeness with my cousin. Even in the early days he and Pogue had the tendency to pair off, as they were the most serious of our group. But I understood the cause of his serious nature, I knew that it stemmed from being the oldest in the Covenant and the pressure of what that entailed. Over the generations, nature made it clear that the oldest was the first born for a reason, that he would be the one that would become the unspoken leader of his generation. _You_ try having that hover over your head while you grew up. Because of this, I was always the one trying to loosen the boy up, the one trying to help him enjoy life for what it was worth. It was easier back then, the Power had yet to manifest within each them, so it was just a matter of distracting him from himself.

Caleb tended to see things in black or white, as good or bad with no gray area in between. I easily slid into the role as the voice of reason when it came to helping him and this continued even when our contact seemed confined to emails. I always tried to help him work through his decisions, to keep him from making hasty choices that would eventually turn around and bite him in the ass. On the flip side, he helped me with my indecision, I was the one that over thought every little detail of everything I came a across and he was there to sit me down and force me to make choices. Without him, I never would have gotten anything done and I still use everything that I learned from him when we were younger. He was like my rational conscience, able to balance my otherwise flake-ish tendencies. I knew that things between the two of us would remain the same, as we were both able to continue roles we played in each others lives despite the distance between us.

Then there was Tyler, who was like my partner-in-crime. We tended to get away with everything, mainly because he was the youngest and I was the only girl, things that we used to our advantage whenever possible. He was the one I was most worried about as he had turned out to be the most introverted of the guys, tending to keep to himself or pair off with Reid. That was never a problem when we were younger, he was always vying for attention, always trying to get the rest of us to notice him. His attention seeking personality came in handy whenever one of my schemes required a second person. More often than not, my plans usually involved bothering Reid, but Tyler was always game for anything. I was sad to find that that wasn't the case now.

He was the one that needed the most work, the one that I knew would benefit the most from my being back. I wanted to give him back his confidence, because without me it seemed that he had slipped into the shadows. He had become content being known only as the fourth Son of Ipswich, preferring to shy away from the attention that the others received. He was always the smart one, mainly because he was the most eager to please his parents, but he used his books as a shield from the real world. I was glad to see that he was the same around me as he always was and that alone gave me hope that I would succeed in bringing back some of the old Tyler.

Finally, there was Reid. He and I had a different kind of relationship, one that wasn't based on brotherly love. Everyone knew it, all the parents saw it, but it had never evolved into anything more than a really close friendship, probably because the last time we saw each other we were 12. We loved to torment each other when we were younger, but it was always in fun. We would never do anything that would seriously hurt the other, physically or emotionally, we knew where to draw the line.

While I was gone, he was the one who had sent me the most letters and emails, apart from Pogue that is. The rest of the guys didn't know, but we had talked almost every day over the past six years. I found myself looking forward to our conversations, whether they be through lengthy emails or IM chats. The others said that he had developed a problem with expressing himself in ways that weren't anger or annoyance, but that wasn't the case with me. When we talked, words just flowed from his end, without any need for extensive prodding. We had become so close that he was the only other person that knew I was coming back aside from Pogue, which explained his lack of surprise Saturday night. Now that we didn't have our computers to hide behind I was eager to see how our relationship would translate into real life and I was curious to know whether or not our friendship would turn into anything more.

Suddenly there was a knock at my door which swiftly pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Hey Willow, its Kate and Sara. You ready to head down for breakfast? The guys said they were meeting us in the dining hall in ten minutes so you better get a move on," Kate exclaimed.

"Yeah I'm ready," I called back in response. I hopped out of bed and grabbed my bag and keys before walking into the hall and locking the door. "Let's go down and meet the guys."

___________________

A/N: So that was yet another chapter. Nothing really happens, but I wanted to shine some light on the relationship between Willow and each of the guys, that way no one gets confused in later chapters. I hope I didn't lose you because of the lack of dialogue, I promise there shouldn't be any more of these now that I have the bulk of the tedious stuff out of the way. I hope that you all like the way Willow is turning out, I know I do. Enjoy!

Like I said before, if somethings not entirely clear or there is some hole that needs to be filled, let me know so I can fix that stuff in later chapters or through A/Ns. Thanks again for reading, I still think its nuts that anyone is paying any attention to anything that I'm writing.

Disclaimer: As you know, I own nothing relating to the original movie, but I thought I'd go ahead and remind you just in case.


	6. First Day: Morning RoundUp

A/N Pt I: Before you get started I wanted to congratulate/thank everyone who got through the last chapter and still decided to stick with me. Also big thanks to Angel JJK for taking the time out and reviewing (I honestly didn't think anyone would).

___________

**Willow's POV**

"So are you ready for this?," Kate asked as we walked to the dining hall. It was January in Massachusetts, so we were walking as quickly as possible through the open quad while still being able to carry a conversation. Unfortunately, since we were girls the Spenser dress code stuck us in skirts while the lucky guys were in pants, so the cold weather was not pleasant.

"Yeah, I think so. There's not much I can do about it now," I shrugged. I adjusted my scarf and pulled my blazer closed as we continued our trek.

"Wow, you really are related to Pogue," Sara smiled as she shook her head.

I laughed, "How do you mean?"

"You've got the whole 'whatever happens, happens' mindset. It's very Pogue," Sara explained. Truthfully, I knew what she meant.

"Yeah well, I guess you could say that I got it from him. Indifference tends to be contagious. It's a trait common among myself and the Sons of Ipswich, though it's definitely more prominent within me and Pogue."

"Sometimes I wish it wasn't," Kate mumbled. Sara and I laughed. Just then, the wind picked up and blew a gust of chilly air our way, causing the three of us to run straight to our destination.

When we got to the dining hall, we quickly grabbed our food and headed to our table where the guys were already tucking into their breakfast. Kate and Sara took their places next to their respective boyfriends, who looked up just long enough to kiss them hello before returning to their food.

"Morning boys," I said sitting next to Tyler. I looked at the boy across from me and shot him a shy smile, "Hi Reid." Unfortunately, Kate picked up on my tone of voice, and raised an eyebrow at me.

"Hey," they responded. Reid was the only one to look up and smile, the rest were too busy stuffing their faces.

Caleb was the first to take a long enough break from eating to speak, "So how do the schedules fall this semester?" Everyone took out their schedules and passed them directly to Kate, so I followed their example.

After about 5 minutes of scrutinizing Kate spoke, "It looks like there's gonna be someone in every class for each of us."

"Really? Even for me?," I was very much relieved. I had the usual Senior course load AP Government/Economics, American Literature, AP Calculus, and AP Chemistry. The only anomaly was Physical Education at the end of my day, but I hoped that my meeting with the coach of the swim team would change that into Athletics. I was glad to know that I wouldn't have to face my first day back alone.

"Uh…Yeah," she responded, then she looked back down to double check. "You've got AP Government/Econ with Pogue and Caleb, AP Calc with Sara and Tyler, then American Lit and lunch with all of us, AP Chem with Tyler and Reid, a free period along with Reid and then...oh wait, I was wrong, you're the only one in Phys-Ed." She finished, her eyebrows pulling together.

"Ugh PE, what a useless class," I muttered under my breath.

"Phys-Ed? What the hell are you taking Phys-Ed for?" Tyler gaped.

"Hopefully I won't be, it's just a place holder until I talk to the Swim Coach," I explained.

"You're talking to Barren's?," Caleb asked.

"Yup," I responded popping the 'p'. "You didn't think I was gonna let you guys have all the poolside fun did you?"

"That's awesome," Reid interjected. "So what will it be freestyle or diving?"

"I dunno, whatever he'll let me do I'll be okay with. Just so long as I have a spot on the team I'll be happy," I answered. It was the truth, as long as I could get in the water and compete I was okay with whatever spot I'd fill.

"Willow, you were ranked nationally in France…you have a spot on the team," Pogue rolled his eyes.

"I only hope you're right Pogue," I rolled my eyes right back.

"So you nervous about your first day?," Tyler changed the subject.

"Yes and no," I replied thoughtfully, "I'm a bit concerned about the potential attention that may be coming my way."

"Do you think anyone with recognize you?"

"Maybe, it has been forever since Junior High so I don't expect them to. We'll just have to wait and see though." I took a sip of my orange juice. "To be honest though, I'm hoping that I don't have a run in with Aaron or Kira."

"Yeah, we wouldn't want your dad to ship you back to France now do we," Reid joked.

"My thoughts exactly, hopefully I can just fly under the radar as much as I can when it comes to those two."

Tyler looked at his watch and got out of his chair, "Okay well I have a meeting with Mr. Jordan, before class starts so I'll see you later."

"Oh that reminds me, I have to swing by the library and pick up a book," Sara pushed her chair away from the table. "I guess I'm out, too"

"I'll go with you," Caleb answered. "See you guys at lunch."

Kate glanced at Reid and I before she turned to my cousin. "Hey Pogue, I forgot my scarf in my room, will you come with me to get it?"

"Uh yeah sure," he nodded, downing the rest of his coffee. Then he turned to me, "Are you gonna be okay finding your way around?"

"Yeah I wandered around the other day, so I should be alright," I responded.

"Cool, see you in class then. Try not to attract too much attention," he laughed, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah," I brushed him off.

"See you in Lit Willow," Kate said before walking off, shooting me a meaningful look then glancing at Reid.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that Kate was trying to give us some alone time. That was something that I definitely appreciated. I was eager to spend some one-on-one time with Reid.

"And then there were two," Reid narrated.

"Indeed," I said smiling.

Neither of us said anything for a few minutes. He leaned back in his chair and his blue eyes were focused on his tray, pushing the remnants of his hash browns around his plate. I took the time to look him over and recommit him to memory. He was in the standard Spenser uniform: tie, button-up shirt and blazer. Every other guy in the dining hall was in the same uniform, but there was something different about how Reid wore it. He made it look good, with his tie was loosened slightly and shirt untucked. He pulled off his ever present beanie, shoving it in his pack, and ran his hands through his hair, the blond strands in perfect disarray.

"So how's it feel finally being in a Spenser uniform?," he asked, finally breaking the silence and pulling me back into the real world.

_Gosh, I hope he didn't see me staring at him._

"It's alright," I answered, shifting the collar, "but it's definitely not the most comfortable thing in the universe." Reid laughed. "I do have to say that it feels right though, being here and in the uniform."

"Yeah, I'm glad you're back. Sitting through four years of Spenser without you here for any of it just wouldn't feel right," he looked away. He seemed embarrassed about what he just said.

I only smiled, "Like I said, I didn't want to miss out on the Spenser experience. It's like a right of passage for our families."

He looked up and rolled his eyes, "You got that right."

"Besides, I missed you too much to stay away any longer," I blurted out. This time it was my turn to look away as I felt my cheeks warm.

He reached across the table, resting his hand on mine, "I missed you too." He smiled.

Just then the first bell sounded, indicating that we should be on our way. "Looks like we should get going," I pulled away my hand, saddened by the loss of contact. We both got out of our chairs and walked to the bussing station.

"My class is across the hall from yours, do you mind if I walk you?," he asked after we had emptied our trays. Again, his eyes were looking away from me.

"No, not at all," I grinned. I was praying that he would ask me that.

"Well then, shall we?' he asked in a very convincing British accent as he extended his arm.

"We shall," I nodded, linking my arm in his allowing him to lead me to my first class.

I vaguely remember stares from other girls as we walked the hallways, evidently Reid was not one for walking girls to class. I heard a few whispers, indicating that some of the people that grew up in Ipswich may have recognized me. For the most part though, I tuned everyone out focusing only on walking side-by-side with Reid, a small smile on both our faces. We each stole quick glances at the other, occasionally catching each others' eye and turning away before the other could see us blush.

"So," Reid said as we reached my door, "I'll see you later then?"

"Yeah, later," I responded quietly, unlinking our arms. He reached over and gave my hand a squeeze, before walking across the hall to his lecture hall.

I just shook my head and smiled.

_This is going to be a good day._

__________

A/N:Sorry it took forever to put up, I was distracted with my little brother's graduation events. I hope you all don't mind. Anyway, I've got most of the next chapter written through so that should be up in a day or so, I don't want to make anyone wait any longer than you had to for this one. Like I said, I know how the story is going to play out, I think I've even figured out the baddie, so I hope to get this out as fast as possible. But I do have to say, when I think of this story I see it like a movie in my head so I'm finding it tricky to go from something visual to text.

Also, it looks like I've lost some readers after the monster that was Remembering. I totally understand because reading through that chapter even hurt my eyes, but it had to be written. Anyway, I promise that no more of dialogue-free behemoths will make it into this story. Thanks to those who stuck with me.

Like I said, lemme know if there are any problems. Thanks for reading, favoriting, alerting and all that good stuff.

Disclaimer: I think we all know that I have no rights to The Covenant


	7. First Day: Lunch Bet

**Willow's POV**

Throughout the morning I saw some familiar faces, ones that I hadn't seen in a long time. I was glad to be in a place surrounded by people I actually knew and grew up with. That being said, I tried my best to avoid a few of them, namely Aaron and Kira. Fortunately for me I made it to lunch without so much as a run-in with the two of them.

For the most part, my first few classes had been uneventful, I spent the first few minutes of each class introducing myself to the teachers and collecting syllabi. It helped that my boarding school seemed to be a good month or two ahead of the course outlines in my classes, so my transition wouldn't be nearly as difficult as I though it might me.

"Hey guys, Sara and I aren't eating lunch in the dining hall today," Caleb said, as we were walking out of our American Literature class after an incredibly pointless lecture. "I think we're gonna head over to the library." He reached out to take her hand.

"You can count me and Kate out too," Pogue added.

"Why where are you two going?," Tyler questioned. Pogue _never_ skipped a meal unless his life or the life of his Ducati depended on it.

"Pogue's going to fawn over Willow's bike and I'm tagging along," Kate explained.

"Just don't let him get any drool on it." I said to Kate, smiling. Pogue looked like he was going to push me over. "I guess we'll see you guys later," I said quickly as we went in our separate directions, waving our goodbyes. Tyler, Reid, and I headed toward the dining hall to actually eat lunch.

We quickly moved through the line, grabbing our food and making our way to what I now understood was our table. The second we sat ourselves down, Tyler pulled out his copy of our AP Chemistry book.

I sighed, "Tyler, it's the first day of the semester. Do you really need to start studying right this moment?"

He looked up, "The AP test is in only 5 months and I'm not even halfway through the textbook." This made Reid roll his eyes.

"Tyler, seriously? Can't you just enjoy lunch with me and Reid, just for today? One day of not studying isn't going to kill your chances of getting a 5," I tried to persuade him.

Reid laughed, "It's no use Willow, we've tried to get his head out of the books for the past six years and nothing's worked."

"Fine," Tyler threw his hands up, "I'll stop studying." True to his word, Tyler closed his book and slipped it back into his backpack.

Reid feigned shock, "Wow, it's a miracle!"

"Hey be nice," I scolded him, punching his shoulder. Then I turned to Tyler, "So Ty, we haven't had a chance to catch up quite yet. What's going on with you?" I was genuinely curious.

"Not much," he shrugged. "School's okay, the parents are fine. Nothing that you don't already know." He turned his attention to his lunch.

I frowned, "Oh come on, there must be something going on with you. A girl perhaps?"

"No, not really," he shot a quick glance to his right before looking down.

"Yeah right," I scoffed. "Don't think I didn't notice that look or the blush that is currently invading your cheeks." He flushed an even deeper red.

"Her name's Melanie," Reid interjected, while sneaking a fry off my plate. "Baby boy over here has been fawning over her for the past few months."

Tyler glared at him fiercely and proceeded to chuck a fork at the blonde with the foot in his mouth, "Shut up man!"

"Hey, calm down," I intervened, "I'm sure he was only kidding." I shoved Reid, almost knocking him out of his chair.

"What's with the hitting, do I have the phrase 'Human Punching Bag' tattooed on my forehead or something?," Reid said righting himself.

"No, but you should," Tyler mumbled under his breath. This time Reid was the one throwing the silverware.

_I guess that explains Sunday's lunch._

"Okay, okay you guys," I put my hands up trying to pacify the situation. "Let's stop throwing things and act like respectable Spenser students." Reid and Tyler glanced and one another, then broke into a round of laughter. Even I laughed, 'respectable Spenser students' not is a million years.

Once we managed to catch our breaths, I returned the conversation to where it originally was, "So Melanie, huh?"

"It's nothing," Tyler tried to brush off. His cheeks had turned tomato red by now.

"You know, turning bright red anytime someone mentions her name isn't helping your case," I teased. "And I thought my blush was bad." Tyler shot me a pointed look, apparently teasing him was not the way to go. "So tell me about her."

Reid was about to open his mouth when I kicked him under the table. Thankfully he got the hint and kept his mouth shut.

Tyler looked really uncomfortable, but I wasn't backing down on this one. He let out an exasperated sigh, "She's a Junior transfer, smart, pretty, out of my league."

"Are you kidding me?," I dropped my chin and raised an eyebrow. "If anything you're out of hers. _Hello, _you're like number 1 in your class and you're a nationally ranked swimmer. Not to mention that you're one of the hottest guys on this campus. Any girl would be lucky to snag you."

He shook his head and looked down at his tray. "Then why doesn't he know my name?," his voice was barely a whisper.

My heart practically broke right then and there. This was not the Tyler that I knew. What happened to my attention seeking, daredevil partner-in-crime? I knew that if I had any chance of getting my friend back I had to help him get the girl.

I got up and walked around the table to sit in the chair next to his, turning my body so I was facing him. "Hey, I'm sure she knows your name. You're one of the Son's of Ipswich. She'd have to be living under a rock to not know who you are."

He gave me a half-hearted smile. "That still doesn't help my situation."

"The only help you need is help getting back your confidence. The Tyler I left behind would already have this girl eating out of the palm of his hand. Hell, _that_ Tyler would have half the girls in this school waiting in a line for a chance with him."

"Yeah well that guy is gone and has left me in his wake. Quiet, shy, bookworm Tyler, who couldn't get a girl if his life depended on it."

I couldn't stand hearing him talk about himself like that. "Enough," I snapped. "I don't want to hear any of that self degrading crap anymore. You're getting back your confidence and you're getting that girl."

He shook his head once more, "Yeah, right."

This time I was the one that let out an exasperated sigh, "50 bucks and a Brat Pack Marathon."

"What?," Tyler asked confused. Reid only smirked, knowing where I was going with this.

"I bet you $50 and a movie marathon that I can get you a date with Melanie in…two weeks." I looked him straight in the eyes to let him know I was serious.

"Not happening, it's impossible." He smiled despite what he said, Tyler had always been one to enjoy a good bet.

"You say that now, but you'll be eating your words when you're on a date with her," I challenged.

He looked at me for a moment, just to make sure I was serious. "Okay, it's your money," he conceded. "$50 and a movie marathon. I hope you like Judd Apatow cuz you'll be spending some quality time with me and the Frat Pack."

"Nice," Reid said reaching over to Tyler for a high five.

"Oh Reid, you've just volunteered yourself to keep Tyler and me company while we spend a whole day with Molly Ringwald." I smiled smugly.

"We'll see about that," Tyler quipped as we shook on our bet.

Then the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch hour.

"Looks like we should head over to AP Chem," I said getting out of my chair and walking back around the table to pick up my tray. Before I got there, Reid had piled my dishes onto his tray, slipping mine under it. I couldn't help but smile a little bit.

"If we're good, do you think Martinez will loan us some sodium to chuck into the pool?," Reid asked.

That sent us into another laughing fit as we bussed the trays and headed towards class.

________________________________

A/N: Alright, that was another chapter. Sorry for taking so long, life and some of the fics I've been reading have been getting in the way. Also I was finishing what was _going_ to be this chapter, but when I was proof reading it I felt that there was something missing so I wrote and posted this one first. I know nothing huge has happened yet, but I promise that the plot will progress in the next two or three chapters, I just wanted to securely ground Willow's character into the Covenant world. Don't worry, The Power will come up pretty soon and hopefully I won't disappoint any of you when it does.

Also it looks like I've won a few of you back with the last chapter, so that makes me smile. Let me know if you like it so far or if there is anything that's unclear. Thanks again for reading/alerting/favoriting.

Disclaimer: I have no claim to anything other than the plot of this story and Willow. Anything pertaining to the original movie/characters is obviously not mine.


	8. First Day: Chemistry Conflict

**Willow's POV**

Reid, Tyler and I were making our way to the lecture hall where our AP Chemistry class when we spotted him, Provost Higgins. Along with Aaron or Kira, he was definitely not someone I wanted to run into on my first day. I cringed internally and prayed that he wouldn't recognize me. But of course, no such luck.

"He's coming over," Reid said, unlinking our arms. He looked uncomfortable, no doubt because he found himself in the Provost's office more times than he would have liked.

"Damn," I muttered, "Looks like we're gonna be late for class."

"Miss Parry, Mr. Garwin, Mr. Tyler," he said walking toward us.

"Good afternoon Provost Higgins," I responded.

"Miss Parry, I was wondering if I could have a word with you?," he asked.

I nodded, knowing where this conversation was going. "Certainly," then I turn to Reid and Tyler, "I'll see you in class." They smiled at me in appreciation before continuing their trek to Chemistry.

And there I was stuck in a hallway with the Provost. I was hoping to avoid having a conversation with this man, if anyone cared more about my family's money or social standing it was him. Our names and legacies came in handy when we needed the rules bent, but the attention we received from the Provost and School Board were almost not worth it.

"I must say that I am very pleased that you have decided to come to Spenser," he started.

I smiled politely, "I'm very happy to be here. And thank you once again for being so accommodating, I know my decision to transfer came with little warning in advance."

"Oh, it was not trouble at all. It's honor to have not one but _two_ Parrys at this attending our school." He always bent over backward in order to accommodate us, hoping that it would cause our parents to invest even more money in the school. Hell, between the our four families, we owned half of the school

The man really liked the sound of his own voice, so I spent the next ten minutes listening to him go on about how honored he was to have a member of such a prestigious family in his school…_blah, blah, blah_. He finally let me go only after I politely reminded him that I had a class to attend.

Once I was free, I ran to the lecture hall knowing I was late. I was lucky because when I walked into the room it became apparent that people were still settling in. I smoothed my skirt and made my way over to the professor to introduce myself.

"I'm sorry I'm late Mr. Martinez, Provost Higgins pulled me aside for a talk," I explained. I extended my hand to introduce myself, "I'm Willow Parry, the new transfer."

He grinned as he shook my hand. "It's nice to meet you Miss Parry. You're in luck, class hasn't started yet so you haven't missed anything important." He handed me a syllabus and pointed up the middle aisle. "Why don't you take that empty aisle seat in the 8th row, by Mr. Simms?"

I nodded and began walking up the steps. That was when I noticed him, Aaron Abbot, he was sitting two rows below Tyler. I was able to avoid him all day but it seems that my luck had just run out. His eyes landed on me and he quickly untangled himself from the clutches of Kira. He moved to block the aisle so I would have no choice but to talk to him.

"Hi, I'm Aaron Abbot. Allow me to offer my services as a tour guide, I know how hard it must be not know anyone here," he said while looking me up and down. His eyes on me alone were enough to make me feel violated. It was all I could do not to lose my lunch right then and there.

It became apparent that Aaron didn't recognize me otherwise he would not be so eager to flirt. Knowing that that inflated ego of his needed to be knocked off its pedestal, I decided to have a little fun with it. _So much for 'flying under the radar.'_ "Yeah, I know who you are, we've already met," I said, smirking.

"I don't believe we have, I'm sure that I would remember meeting a hot chick such as yourself," he responded while giving me another once over. He obviously thought that this sorry excuse for flattery was going to win me over. The nerve of this idiot, blatantly checking me out while we were standing five feet from Kira. Don't get me wrong, Kira is not my favorite person in the world, but I still didn't approve of his audacity.

"I think you have," Reid yelled down from three rows up. I looked up at him to see a smile pulling at his lips. "Don't you remember Pogue's cousin? Or were you so humiliated that you blocked out the incident where you got your ass kicked by a girl?" That got half of the class laughing, even the Mr. Martinez found it amusing.

Aaron glared at Reid, then turned to look at me. After a moment the smug look on his face was quickly replaced by one of recognition. "Willow Parry," he hissed, his voice acidic.

"Oh, so you do remember me?," I couldn't help but smile.

"What are you doing here?," he spat.

"I go to school here," I answered plainly. "Now do you mind getting out of my way? Unless of course you want me to reintroduce my fist to your face." That caused another round of laughter among the rest of the students. In an instant, he was back in his seat as Kira's arms snaked around him.

I was finally able to make my way to the empty seat, but before I sat down I stole a quick glance up at Reid. He was smiling at me with a combined look of pride and admiration. I took my seat next to Tyler, pulled out my Mac and got myself situated for class.

"Now that everyone is seated, I think it's time to start today's lesson," Mr. Martinez began.

Just as Martinez was about to introduce Redox reactions, an IM chat box popped up on my screen. I glanced at the screen name and smiling instantly.

**RiskTaker**: That was awesome!

**WeepingWillow**: Thanks, I try.

**RiskTaker**: Did you see the look on Abbot's face when he realized who you were?

**WeepingWillow**: Yeah, it was priceless. I wish the other guys were here to see it too.

**RiskTaker**: No way, if Pogue were here he would have punched Aaron before he even got a word out.

**RiskTaker**: Not that that wouldn't be fun too.

**WeepingWillow**: True, but I think we've already proven that I can hold my own against that idiot.

**RiskTaker**: My hero…

**WeepingWillow**: You know it.

I heard someone click their tongue and I looked up to see Tyler giving me a disapproving look.

**WeepingWillow****: **Uh oh, Tyler's shooting me one of his guilt trip glares. Maybe we should start paying attention.

**RiskTaker**: Fine, but where's the fun in that?

**RiskTaker**: Hey listen, you've got a free period next right? Wanna hang out in the quad?

**WeepingWillow**: I wish I could, I but I have to meet up with Coach Barrens.

**WeepingWillow**: I'll see you in Athletics though, that is if all goes well with Barrens.

**RiskTaker**: Uh yeah sure…I guess I'll just see you then.

**WeepingWillow**: Yeah, see you then :P

The rest of the period passed by rather uneventfully. Luckily I was already pretty good at Chemistry so I didn't have to pay very much attention, I used it more as a refresher course than anything else. Once the period ended, I said a quick goodbye to Reid and Tyler before returning to the dorms. There I dropped off my messenger and grabbed my duffel bag and a protein bar before heading off to my meeting with Coach Barrens.

_________________________________

A/N: Alrighty, that was another chapter. I thought I might give you something since its a holiday in the States (at least it was the day I posted this). Again, nothing major happens, just something funny that I couldn't get out of my head. I _**promise**_ that after the next chapter things will pick up. Just try to stick with me.

Okay, so the number of hits I've been getting is crazy, it looks like I've got a good 50 readers and it might not seem like much to you but to me it's mind boggling. I just wanted to say thank you again for even giving this story/me a chance, I really appreciate it. Thanks to those that reviewed the last chapter, every single one of them put a smile on my face. They make me want to forget MCAT studying and lock myself in my room with my laptop. Also, to everyone who added me to Author Alert/Faves, I totally didn't expect that so thanks tons for that as well. I really appreciate all the reading/reviewing/alerting that you all do.

Disclaimer: Yet again, I do not have any legal claim to the original movies/characters. But Willow is my own invention so that's good enough for me.


	9. First Day: Waterworks

**Willow's POV**

After my side trip to my dorm room, I made my way to the athletics office for my meeting with the swim coach. Coach Barrens seemed nice enough, we spent half an hour discussing the swim and dive team. Apparently they were lacking a strong swimmer for the girls 100m freestyle and they could also use some support in the 1m Springboard. My father had sent over tapes of my meets in France, so we watched them and that was all Barrens needed to place me on the team. I knew I couldn't just waltz right on the team without proving myself to the others, so I used the last 20 minutes of my free period to warm up in the pool.

After my warm up, I wrapped myself in my towel and sat on the bleachers, waiting for the rest of the team to come in. I heard the door to the boy's locker room swing open and turned, just in time to see the guys walking towards me. Tyler was the first to notice me, so I gave him a little wave as they walked to where I was sitting.

"Willow! I take it the meeting with Coach went well," Tyler asked as he and Caleb sat on either side of me. Reid and Pogue were still standing, stretching out before the start of the period.

"Yup, he saw the tapes of my meets in France and I got the okay to join the team," I beamed. "Frankly, I'm just glad that I don't have to be stuck in a class as useless as phys-ed."

"Awesome, the girls team could use a little fresh blood," Caleb said while giving me a congratulatory hug. "So what has Barrens' got you signed up for?"

"I think it's gonna be 1m Springboard for sure, then maybe 100m freestyle. He doesn't seem quite sure yet."  
Just then, Pogue had finished stretching and sat down on the bench below us. "Trust me, you'll get 100m freestyle for sure. I've seen you're tapes, you could easily beat any of the other girls on the team."

"Aww, thanks for the vote of confidence cuz."

"Hey, I'm just speaking the truth," he said waving me off.

By now the rest of the swim team had emerged from the lockers and were lounging on the bleachers. Then Coach Barrens walked out of his office with a clip board.

He blew his whistle twice to get everyone's attention. "Hey listen up, we have a new addition to our swim team. I'd like to introduce Willow Parry," he motioned to me. I looked around, giving everyone a smile and a wave just in case they didn't know who I was. "She's going to be taking over the 1m Springboard and maybe the 100m freestyle." Then he turned to me, "Do you mind giving everyone a little demo? I don't want them to think that I just let you walk on the team."

"Yeah no problem," I said getting up. "Is a dive a good enough demo?"

He nodded, "Yeah, that should work."

As I got up, I tossed my towel on the bench and walked over to the springboard. I could feel everyone's eyes on me and I wanted to prove myself right off the bat. It also didn't help that Reid's eyes were locked on me and I definitely wanted to show off. I didn't want to hurt myself though, so I settled on an inward one and a half. I positioned myself at the edge of the springboard, pushing my feet down to gain some momentum. With a strong push, I jumped off the board, tucking in my body tightly to complete the dive, before stretching out to enter the water. I swam back to the bleachers, was greeted with applause and hollering as I jumped out of the pool.

"That was great Willow," Reid said as I walked back to my seat on the bleachers.

I grabbed my towel off the bench and smiled, "Thanks. Was my entry okay?"

"It was more than okay," Barrens interjected. "That is exactly what we need on this team. So now that we have proven your diving skills, why don't we try the freestyle swim?"

"Sure, whatever you want," I shrugged.

"Okay well I'm gonna have you swim against Caleb, because by the looks of those tapes there is no way any of the girls will give you competition." Caleb and I nodded. Then he turned to address the rest of the team, "Alright, everyone who wasn't in the weight room last period, in the pool for warm up laps, but leave lanes 3 and 4 open." That left me and the guys sitting on the bleachers.

"You ready to show us what you got?" Caleb smiled, as he rose to walk over to the pool.

"Sure, I'm only swimming against the State Freestyle Champ….no big deal," I rolled my eyes. Caleb was good, really good, just like the other guys were at their respective dives.

"Alright you two, 100m on my whistle," Barrens said as Caleb and I took our positions on the platform. "3…2…1…"

Once the shrill cry hit my ears, I jumped in the water as fast as I could. I knew I wouldn't be able to beat him, I was only 5'4 and Caleb was blessed enough to be 6'2. There was no competition really, so I just focused on performing well enough within my personal times. And that I did, while I finished a good bit after Caleb I had beaten my average time by 0.2 seconds.

"Well Willow," Coach started as I got out of the pool, "looks like you'll be swimming 100m freestyle for us too."

"Awesome, thanks Coach," I beamed. I loved the water, it was a place where I could forget the outside world and relax. The guys felt the same way too, we were practically thrown in the water once we were finally old enough, so we were obviously skilled at what we do.

"No problem. Alright, I know you were swimming some laps last period so I want you to sit the rest of this one out. So cool down and get changed, but come back out here when you're done. I need some help recording lap times."

"You got it Coach." I flashed the guys a smile and ran into the locker room so I could wash off the pool water and get dressed. After pulling my hair into a loose bun, I walked back out to the pool. I spent the rest of the period recording times and entering them into the data sheets. The last swim was the 100m backstroke, Reid's swim, and Caleb was timing him so I could just sit back and enjoy the view.

When the whistle blew, he was quick to push off the platform, which was expected as he had the best reflexes of the bunch. When he swam it looked effortless, he simply glided through the water and completed his circuit. He finished well ahead of the second and third string swimmers. It was a quick swim because like I said, he was good at what he does.

He hurriedly climbed out of the pool, catching the towel that Tyler had thrown to him. It was then that I decided to take a risk and tease him a bit.

"Nice form," I said as Reid was walking toward us, drying off.

"Thanks," he blushed slightly, "I've been putting in extra practice time."

"Oh, I wasn't talking about your technique," I amended while pointedly looking him up and down. Needless to say, his jaw proceeded to hit the floor. Then I walked toward the locker room, feeling his eyes on me as I walked away. I glanced back just before I walked through the doors to see that despite the fact that Pogue, Tyler and Caleb were laughing at him, he was standing with a huge grin on his face.

________________________________________________

A/N: OK so I wrote this chapter out and looking back, it seems kind of random and a little pointless. I was iffy on whether or not I wanted to post it, but then I realized I alluded to it in the past few chapters so I needed to address it. Alright, that's it for the "Cementing Willow in the Universe" portion of the story. Hopefully by now you know what kind of person Willow is (if not then I obviously didn't do my job correctly). The plot picks up in the next one and the little Willow-Tyler-Reid side bet will be resolved in the one after that. Hopefully you are liking what you are reading so far. Thanks again for all the reviewing/alerting/favoriting and the rest of the good stuff. It makes me want to forget my MCAT studying and go straight to writing.

Also side note, I got a review the other day about whether the Power shows up or not in the story...let's just say you get a taste of it in the next chapter. I've got it mostly written out, I just need to edit it and I wanted to try and finish a few more after that just so I can get ahead of the game on this one. If I get anymore reviews with important questions like that I'll post the answer on my profile, just so you all have access to the answers. Thanks again for everything!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but this plot and Willow...blah, blah, blah


	10. Restless Dreaming

**Willow's POV**

I woke up Friday morning with a thin layer of sweat clinging to my body as I was gasping for air. That was the third time this week that I woke up this way, the third time that I was pulled from my sleep by a pounding headache. I got up to grab some aspirin and water as the pain between my temples was threatening my sanity.

As I settled back into my bed, I noticed that my alarm clock read 4:15am. I pressed my head back onto my pillow, willing the pain medication to kick in. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to remember what I had dreamed about, hoping to piece together the images from the last few nights.

I fought through my headache, recalling the images that my subconscious had brought to attention. A bar, I remembered a bar with people battling to gain the bartender's attention. I was standing there, next to a small group of people, but only one was clear. I couldn't make out her face but the color of her strawberry blonde hair was seared into my brain.

_Who is she? Why is she important?_

The pain began to subside so I was able to fully focus on the task at hand. I wanted to figure out how it fit with what I had seen before. I knew the images were connected, they had to be, they always were. The only difference was how intense they were, I had never struggled to fill my lungs when I awoke as I had been these past few nights.

I remember seeing a jukebox, pushed against the corner of the room. The details were vague, if not non-existent. The walls were blurred, I couldn't make out whatever was on them. I couldn't place the room, I had no clue where it was. I couldn't make out the walls, there was nothing that would help me identify where it was. No hints as to what kind of place it was.

_Why wasn't anything else clear? Why can I only see the jukebox?_

Then there was the noise, never before had I ever heard noise. In the past, when images assaulted my mind, they had done so mutely. But this time, I remembered hearing the record on the jukebox change, I heard the click of the machine as the new disc was being settled in. And the song, it was some classic rock song, but I couldn't remember the name or who sang it. I tried my best to will the knowledge into existence.

_Was is something by Bon Jovi? Maybe Springsteen or Aerosmith?_

There were also really random images, none of which I could make sense of. I saw lace, red lace, the vibrant color made it difficult to forget. And hands, there were three hands, over a pile of pale green. I couldn't understand any of it, try as I might.

_Those hands, they looked so familiar. Why?_

It wasn't working, no matter how hard I concentrated, I couldn't figure out the connections. I was exhausted, trying to make sense of what I had seen, and I knew that I would need my energy to make it through the rest of the day. I tried to go back to sleep, but my mind was in overdrive. I was worried, I knew I had to tell Pogue.

I had to tell them all.

**Reid's POV**

I couldn't help but stare at Willow. She looked exhausted, like she hadn't had a good nights sleep in days. We were sitting in the dining hall, eating lunch when I fully noticed how out of it she was. Her eyes were dull, her uniform was a bit mussed and her hair looked as if she had been running her hands through it all day. I mean, she looked tired this morning, but I chalked it up to not yet having her daily dose of caffeine. It was clear now that there was more to it.

It was Friday so we had a short day and we agreed to meet after our last period and talk about tonight's plans. I tried to pay attention to what everyone was saying, but I couldn't concentrate, all I saw was Willow. She looked ready to collapse at any moment, so I watched her carefully just in case.

The sound of Kate squealing and clapping broke my concentration. How Pogue put up with her I don't even know.

"So it's all set then? Nikki's tonight at six. We can have dinner there and hang out and all that…," Kate finished with yet another squeal. I'm surprised that any of us guys had out hearing intact after eight years of friendship with that chick.

"Sounds like a plan," Caleb nodded, confirming.

"This is so exciting, Willow's first time at Nikki's," Kate exclaimed clapping like the Energizer Bunny. "Aren't you excited Will?" This seemed to jostle Willow out of daydream land.

"Huh?," Willow shook her head, "Uh, yeah I'm stoked. Woo hoo!" She twirled her finger in the air to punctuate her sentence, making us laugh.

Kate's eyebrows pulled together. "Geez Willow, if you didn't want to go you could have just said something," she said in semi-mock offense.

Willow took a sip of her soda and smiled at Kate, "I think we all know that you would have gotten me to Nikki's tonight, regardless of whether or not I wanted to go. You're very…"

"Persuasive?" Kate tried to finish.

"I think she was thinking more along the lines of 'relentless.' But persuasive works just as well," Pogue jokingly corrected her. Kate shot her idiot boyfriend a glare while administering a smack upside his head.

"_Anyway_," Willow interrupted, trying to diffuse the situation and save Pogue from anymore physical abuse, "I _do_ want to go tonight. But you'll have to forgive my current lack of enthusiasm, I'm just a little tired."

"Are you okay?," Tyler asked, before I could get the words out.

"Yeah I'm fine," she smiled at him. "I just had a little trouble sleeping last night."

"Anything we need to worry about?," Pogue asked, while giving her a pointed look.

_I wonder what that was about…_

She shook her head slightly, "No, everything's fine. It's probably just jetlag catching up with me." She and Pogue looked at each other, engaging in a private silent conversation.

After a minute Pogue nodded sharply, "Well you better get caught up on your sleep. No telling what's gonna go down at Nikki's tonight."

"You know cuz, I think you're right. I'm just gonna head to my room for a nap before I have to get ready." She got up from our table and grabbed her messenger bag.

"Actually, I think I'll head back to the dorms with you Will," I said also getting up. I wanted to get her alone so I could make sure everything really was alright.

"Me too," Tyler said while standing. "I wanted to get some study time in before we go out."

_Damn Tyler. My one shot at alone time and he totally kills it._

We made our way to the dorms without much conversation. I was still trying to figure out what was going on with Willow and Tyler, well Tyler was more interested in messing with his new iPod. Willow was walking between us, her shoulders slightly slumped and walking a little slower than normal.

Once we were in the elevator Tyler pulled out his earphones and spoke, breaking the silence, "Hey Will, how were you planning to get to Nikki's? You're welcome to catch a ride with me, I'm taking Reid too."

She looked up at him and gave him a small smiled, "Actually, I was thinking of taking my bike. I haven't been able to put it to good use since I got here. But could I maybe follow you there?"

"Yeah sure, Reid and I will meet you in the lot when we need to leave."

She nodded her head, "Yeah that sounds good." Then she yawned. "Excuse me," she looked at me and blushed.

I saw exhaustion in her eyes and couldn't help but question her. "Hey Willow, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine," she responded quickly, brushing off my concern. "Nothing a nice long nap wouldn't fix."

Then the elevator dinged, signaling that we had reached her floor.

Willow turned around to face us, her backing out of the elevator. "Well this is me, I'll see you two later tonight," she said waving her hand between us. Tyler nodded his head in acknowledgment.

I on the other hand gave her a real goodbye. "Later," I said waving my hand slightly. "Pleasant dreams."

She gave me a hesitant smile, "We'll see." That was all she was able to get out before the doors closed back on her.

'_We'll see' Who says that? What was that supposed to mean?_

I couldn't shake the feeling that Willow was hiding something, something big.

______________________________________

A/N: So I have to start by apologizing for the huge delay in getting this chapter out. I wanted to have a good chunk of the next one knocked out before I posted this but that didn't really happen. Rather than make anyone wait, I just decided to go ahead and give this to you all. Like I said, the plot is starting to move forward with this one, so I hope you all are on board.

Also, to anyone that read the A/N posted as a placeholder for this chapter, forget about it. Pretend like it never happened, I would appreciate that. Anyway, I think I have a pretty good idea of what is going to go down in the next chapter, but its probably gonna be a long one so it might be another week before I get it out to you (mainly because I really have to buckle down and start studying for my MCAT next month.) I'm hoping I haven't lost too many of you with this delay.

Thanks again for all the reading/reviewing/alerting you all do, especially the reviewing as I really appreciate the words of encouragement.

Disclaimer: I own a copy of The Covenant, but alas no rights to it.


	11. Nikki's: Realizations and Settled Bets

**Willow's POV**

After my little nap, which was thankfully dream free, I spent the rest of my time getting ready to head out for the night. No matter how much my last few dreams bothered me, I pushed them aside willing myself to enjoy the night. It was the first time we were able to hang out as a group outside of school and I was in for some much needed down time. I showered and set my hair in messy waves that would make my helmet head look intentional.

As much as I wanted to dress well and impress the others, well one of them in particular, I decided to side with the part of me that begged for comfort. I threw on a light tank top and knit cotton vest over a pair of dark jeans. Normally when a girl tries to impress a boy, skirts and dresses are involved, however I was taking my bike to Nikki's so that wasn't really an option. Unfortunately, I had yet to perfect the art of slipping in and out of my leathers with grace so anything short of pants was unacceptable.

Once I was ready, I grabbed my bag, helmet, gloves and leather jacket before heading down to the parking lot to meet Reid and Tyler.

**Tyler's POV**

Reid and I were standing by Willow's Harley waiting for her to come down from her room so we could head over to Nikki's. I turned to Reid and noticed the odd look on his face.

"Hey man, are you okay?" I asked breaking the silence.

"Huh?," he said, confused. "Uh, yeah I'm fine. Why?"

"I dunno, you just seem a little out of it. You haven't really been yourself since lunch. What is going on in that sick and twisted mind of yours?"

He laughed and shook his head, "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

This was not the Reid I knew, the one who usually blurted out his every stupid thought the second it popped into his head. I can't lie, I was a little concerned. "Dude, seriously, what's up?"

Reid looked away, pulling at his gloves trying to stall. "I don't know, I just can't shake this feeling that something's going on with Willow."

"What do you mean?" I didn't understand, if there was something wrong she would have told us. We never kept anything important from each other, it was our unspoken rule.

"I feel like she's hiding something from us, she hasn't been herself all day. And I can't help but think that Pogue is in on it too. I know it sounds stupid but I can't shake it." He tore his beanie off and stretched it before pulling it back on. "Ugh, listen to me, I sound like a pansy. This is stupid right? Like what am I _thinking_?"

I waited a second before responding. "If you were a normal guy, I'd say that you were overreacting, but…," I paused. He looked up, willing me to finish. "You were always the intuitive one, you know? All those 'weird feelings' you had when we were kids always proved right. And now that you've ascended, your intuition's gotten stronger.

"I'm not saying that you're right. But I'm also not saying that you're wrong. I just think you need to give it some time before you jump to any conclusions."

Reid only nodded, processing what I had just said.

Before the conversation could continue, I noticed Willow walking towards us with a smile on her face. She threw her stuff into one of the saddle bags before hoping on her bike.

Reid grinned, his mood instantly lightened. I have never seen a girl have this kind of affect on him, usually it was the other way around. But ever since Willow got back, small things about him have changed. He wasn't as rude and crude about things as he used to be _and_ he was starting to do things like open doors and carry her books around. I shook my head at the thought of Reid being a gentleman.

_That boy is so screwed._

Willow turned to us before putting on her helmet, "So boys, a night of fun and mischief is calling. What are we waiting for?" And with that we headed to Nikki's.

**Willow's POV **

We walked into Nikki's and I couldn't shake the wave of familiarity that had hit me. I pulled my eyebrows together, as if trying to figure out a jigsaw puzzle when Tyler spoke.

"Hey Willow, are you alright?," he said looking at me with concern.

"Yeah I'm fine, just trying to find everyone else," I lied. I looked around and located Pogue, Kate, Sara and Caleb sitting at a cluster of tables. "Over there," I pointed as I dragged Tyler and Reid towards the corner by the pool tables.

As we sat down I took a second to survey the surroundings. For the most part it was your typical bar, complete with pool and foosball tables. The bar extended from the back wall into the middle room. That's when I saw it, a flash of strawberry blonde. Right then I knew it, this was the girl from my dreams. The only clue I had to go off was the color of her hair, but after one look I just knew.

I tore my eyes away from her and forced my self to take a closer look at my surroundings. I looked to the dance floor and saw what I hadn't before...the jukebox. Right now it was playing some random generic 90s rock song, but I knew it was only a matter of time before I heard the song from my dream. All the pieces were falling into place, I knew that everything that I had seen or heard during the last week was tied to tonight. I smiled at the thought that the mystery was finally solved and turned back to where the strawberry blonde was standing at the bar. Now all I needed to find out was why she was important.

Suddenly Pogue's voice pulled me from my thoughts. "Hey Tyler, isn't that the girl of your dreams?" he joked.

I turned to look at Tyler, whose eyes were trained on the table, then to Pogue who was pointing towards the bar. I followed his gaze and my eyes settled once again on _her_.

"It certainly is," Reid teased as he was trying to get Tyler to look up.

"Wait, what?," I begged for clarification.

Tyler glanced up at me for a split second before returning his eyes to the tabletop. "That's her, Melanie…The girl I told you about."

The gears in my head were turning as I took yet another look at the group of girls, "Which one is she? The one with reddish-blonde hair?," I asked. I needed verbal confirmation that she and the object of Tyler's affection were one in the same.

Tyler sighed, "Yeah." I could tell he was flustered, which was weird since my guys _never_ got flustered. Ever.

That was it, I knew it. Tonight was the night that I brought Tyler back…now I just needed to figure out how. Before I could do anything, I needed to get more information.

"Who are the other two?," I turned to Reid, giving Tyler a break.

"The brunette's Angeline Sanchez and the bleach blonde is Caitlin Daniels," he replied, gesturing to each. "Angeline is Melanie's roommate and Caitlin is her cousin. All Juniors."

I simply nodded in acknowledgement of the details. If I had any hope of things turning out the way I wanted them to, I knew I needed to talk to Melanie. There was no way I was going to be able to get Tyler to step up and make the first move. It also helped that I noticed that Melanie was shooting Tyler looks since she and her friends had moved to the bar.

I looked around the table and noticed that the chatter had moved on to other topics. I took this as my opportunity to put my plan into action. Unfortunately I couldn't do it alone so I leaned over to Pogue and recruited him for my little scheme. I gave him a quick rundown of my plan and his participation was solidified with a slight nod. I smiled and slipped him the twenty dollar bill he would need.

"Hey guys," I said loud enough to get everyone's attention. "I'm gonna get a soda. Anyone want?" My question was met with a full round of affirmatives and drink orders.

I got up and made my way over to the bar and situated myself right next to Melanie and Friends. The second that my hands touched the counter-top, I was met with a smile from one of the bartenders. "What can I get you?"

"I need seven cokes, five regulars and two diets," I answered.

"You got it," he responded, getting to work on filling my order. Then I heard the whispers…

"Melanie, I don't understand why you don't just go over there and ask him to dance," the brunette, Angeline, said exasperated.

"Yeah Mel, you've got nothing to lose. You've been drooling over him for the past three months. Get off your ass and do something about it," Caitlin pressed.

_Please be talking about who I think you're talking about._

"You swear like it's the easiest thing in the world. He doesn't even know I exist. Plus I could never just walk over to him," Melanie responded, her voice an angry whisper.

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing that he's headed this way," Caitlin countered.

I looked up to see Tyler walking over to me with a nervous look in his eyes. I was happy to know that they were in fact talking about Tyler, this made my life easier. That and it helped that the boy had perfect timing…the bartender had just placed the last of the sodas on the tray in front of me. "What's up Ty?"

Tyler cleared his throat before speaking. "Umm…Pogue wanted fries, but he was too damn lazy to walk over here himself."

I chuckled, "Yeah that's Pogue for you, always getting someone to do his dirty work for him. Did he at least give you cash?"

"Uh yeah," he showed me the bill I had handed my cousin earlier.

"Cool. Hey listen, I'll order the fries if you lug this tray of drinks back to the others."

"Sure," he responded quickly, obviously eager to put distance between himself and Melanie. He was shaking and the tray of sodas looked like they were about to fall, so to save him from humiliation I rested my elbow on the bar and placed my hand over my eyebrows to hide the flash of black in my eyes. I willed the tray and the drinks to stay perfectly balanced until he safely reached the table. I couldn't help but shake my head and smile slightly.

_Man that boy had it bad._

Then I turned back to the bartender and order a few baskets of fries and turned so I could lean back against the counter, waiting for the perfect moment. Luckily, Melanie seemed to have a pretty nosey cousin so I didn't have to wait long.  
Caitlin shot a conspiratorial look at Angeline before stepping up to me. "Hi, you don't by chance go to Spenser do you?"

I smiled at her attempted icebreaker, "Actually I do, I'm a Senior transfer. My name's Willow."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Caitlin and this is Angeline and Melanie," she said gesturing to the other two. "We're all Juniors at Spenser."

"Yeah I think I might have seen you around campus."

"So...was that Tyler Simms?" she asked, not wanting to waste any more time.

I nodded, "It was. Why do you ask?"

"Oh it's nothing, it's just he doesn't usually talk to anyone outside his circle of friends. I was just surprised is all," she blurted out. She tensed and looked at me, obviously worried that she may have offended me with her words. "I'm sorry that was rude."

"Don't worry about it. I totally get what you're saying. No harm done." I smiled, causing her to relax.

Angeline stepped in as it was clear that Caitlin was not going to be able to finish this conversation. "So, if you don't mind me asking, how'd you do it? Getting in with the four most popular guys in Spenser, I mean. Are you like dating Tyler or something?" She was ignoring the death glare that Melanie was shooting her.

I couldn't help but laugh, "Um, yeah no. We've been friends for years. I actually grew up with them, but I moved to France for a few years, before ending up at Spenser."

"So you're not dating Tyler," Melanie asked, finally finding her voice.

"No, definitely not. Tyler's single, actually. Personally, I'm quite partial to the blonde one, have been since we were younger. I'm just waiting for him to make his move. And besides even if I did want Tyler, that wouldn't happen in a million years."

"What do you mean?"

"He sees me like a sister, a romantic entanglement is definitely out of the question," I answered.

"So Tyler's single?" Angeline repeated.

"Most definitely, but…" I stopped mid-sentence. I was trying to figure out how much to spill. I didn't want to betray Tyler's trust but these two were too damn shy for their own good.

"But…," Melanie pressed.

Just then, I decided to throw caution to the wind. I looked her straight in the eye, "But if maybe _you_ were to ask him to dance then he won't be for much longer." Melanie looked at me wide-eyed and in shock at this revelation.

Just then the bartender caught my attention and handed me a few baskets of fries as I forked over the cash to pay him. I turned back to Melanie and whispered quietly, "Listen, I heard you guys talking earlier. I promise, if you go for it then it _will_ pay off." Then I turned my attention to her friends, "It was nice meeting you guys, I'll see you around."

When I got back to the table, I barely had time to set the food down and sit back in my chair before I was barraged with questions.

"What was that about?" Tyler demanded.

"What do you mean?" I feigned ignorance.

"Don't play coy with me. We all saw you talking to Melanie."

"Oh relax, nothing happened. We introduced ourselves, we talked for a bit and I came back to the table bearing sustenance. End of story."

"Damn," Pogue interjected. "I was hoping that you would be able to make headway on that bet of yours. It would have made for an entertaining night."

"I never said I didn't," I mumbled.

"Explain."

"Let's just say that I've got twenty bucks on Tyler dancing with his dream girl tonight." I unfolded another bill and threw it on the counter.

"Not happening. There is no way you could have accomplished that in one five minute conversation." Tyler shook his head in disbelief.

"I'm with Ty on this one," Reid said slipping a twenty on top of mine.

"Me too," Caleb said adding to the pot. "You may be good Willow but there is no way you're _that_ good."

Pogue looked at me and I smirked shooting him a knowing look. "My money's on Willow. She definitely has something up her sleeve." I watched as he extended his hand over the pile of bills. That's when I made the connection. Three hands over a pile of pale green.

_Finally, things are starting to make sense._

I shot a quick glance to Melanie, to make sure that my plan had worked.

"Oh, Tyler," I said reaching over the table to pat his head, "I hope you have your wallet because this is going to be a very expensive night for you."

He grimaced and swatted my hand away. "Why do you say that?"

"Because the object of your affection is headed this way and I do believe you'll owe me $50 but the end of the night." Tyler paled for a moment, before sitting up a little straighter in his chair.

"Hey Tyler," Melanie spoke softly.

"Uh, hi Melanie," He answered, a look of shock on his face from when she said his name.

"I was wondering if, maybe, you wanted to dance with me? I mean its okay if you don't, I just thought I would ask…"

Tyler jumped up and cut off her rambling, "No, I'll dance with you!" They shared a smile before Tyler took her hand. Melanie led the way to the dance area and Tyler turned quickly to me to mouth a 'thank you' before returning his attention to his crush.

Caleb looked between me and Tyler a few times before clapping. Kate and Sara joined in soon after.

"Damn," Reid sighed. "You had fourteen days and you only needed five. Looks like you really _are_ that good."

I nodded as I picked up the pile of cash, handing half to Pogue, "Yes I am and don't you forget it."

_______________________________________________________________________

**Warning: Mega-important A/N coming up**

A/N:I'm so sorry that you guys had to wait so long for this chapter. I've had a lot of things going on in the last two weeks, but i seriously thought that I would be able to get this out quicker. Anyway, thanks tons for reading, it's nice to know that I'm not wasting my time on this.

So I wanted to be up front with you guys. I have less than a month before I have to sit for my first MCAT in early September so I don't think I will be able to do much writing until afterwards. I promise though, once that is over with I will finish this story as fast as humanly possible. Hopefully, you all don't mind too much and stick with me over the next few weeks. I might be able to squeeze in some writing time between now and the dreaded test so there should be at least one or two updates before the month is through.

That being said, I do have a question. How are you guys liking the story? It seems the reviews have stopped and while I don't require them before chapters are posted I would still like to know what you all are thinking. That way I can alter some stuff to keep you guys happy. (Please though, my low self esteem and non-existent ego can't take the trauma that comes with super critical reviews...nice yet constructive words please.) Oh, also is there anything you would like to see happen? If they don't mess with my plot line I wouldn't have any problem incorporating any suggestions in future chapters (Don't worry though, credit will be given where credit is due.)

Alrighty, that's about it. Thanks again for being awesome

Disclaimer: I don't own the original story or characters...but I think you all know that already.


	12. Decisions and Concerns

**Pogue's POV**

"You have to tell them Willow," I said for the billionth. I was beginning to sound like a broken record.

"I know, I will. I just…I don't know how," she answered shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

Today was a Saturday and Willow and I had agreed to meet at the coffee shop by my apartment. Luckily no one was there other than the two of us so we could talk without having to look over our shoulders.

It had been a month and a half since she had come back to Ipswich. Once we had her back, it was like our family was complete. She was the missing piece to our twisted circle of friends and without her our balance was off.

I was the only one who really knew why she had come back, but it wasn't something that we could keep from them any longer. We both knew this was something that had to be dealt with, but we had been putting it off out of fear of their reactions. But we were running out of time, we needed to tell them soon.

"Will, you're birthday is in three weeks. We need to tell them now," I said forcefully.

She ran her fingers through her hair, a nervous habit we had both inherited by our fathers. "Pogue, I'm scared. What if…," her voice was barely above a whisper. I waited for her to finish, but she never did.

"What if…what Willow?," I prodded her, trying to find the source of her fear. She closed her eyes and shook her head. I move my chair closer to hers and put my arm around her shoulder.

She leaned against my shoulder and took a deep breath. "They're gonna be so mad. This secret we've been keeping, it's not just some stupid kid thing, it's a big deal. Something that affects all of us. I don't think I can face them." She shook her head.

"I know how you feel. And I'm not even going to pretend that what you're saying is ridiculous. They will be pissed, hell they may even stop talking to us for a while. That's why we can't put it off any longer. We need to tell them now so they have time to process it, to deal with their anger," I explained. "Three weeks Willow, don't you think we're cutting it kinda close?"

She sighed in resignation, "Okay, tonight. We'll tell them tonight."

"So can I make the call?" I asked her, giving her one final out before she jumped into the abyss. Truth be told, I've been itching to make this call ever since the night she said she was coming back.

She thought for a moment, then sat up straight nodding her head sharply. "Make the call."

I pulled out my phone to make the first of three very important phone calls. I dialed Caleb's number and reached over to squeeze Willow's hand as it rang.

It was early so I expected it to take a couple of rings, but he picked up almost immediately. "Hey man," Caleb's voice sounded slightly apprehensive.

"Caleb it's Pogue. What's going on?"

"Nothing much, just hanging around with Tyler and Reid. How was breakfast with Willow" he asked.

"Good, we're still at the coffee shop right now," I answered. Willow pointed to the phone and waved her hand. "Oh, Will says hi."

"That's cool. Say hi back."

I relayed the greeting then hesitated before continuing, "Hey listen are you busy tonight? Hanging out with Sara or anything?"

"Uh no, Sara's back in Boston with her family so I don't have any plans. Why?" he answered back.

"Nothing, we just need to meet tonight at the Sanctum." The Sanctum was our haven, as it had been for all the previous generations of the Covenant. It was the one place we could discuss our Power without fear of breaking the Covenant.

"The Sanctum? Tonight?" concern filled his voice. We rarely met there, only in times of extreme need, so he knew something was up. The last time we met there was because of the Fifth.

"Yeah can you make it? It's nothing bad is swear," I rolled my eyes. Caleb was always the one to jump to the worst possible conclusions.

"Yeah sure, I'll be there," he agreed without a moment's hesitation.

"Cool, is 10 alright?"

"Yeah 10 is fine. I'll tell the others"

"Great. See you then."

"See ya man, bye," he replied before I hung up the phone. I looked up at Willow, seeing worry in her eyes.

**Reid's POV**

It was Saturday morning and Tyler and I were sitting in our room with Caleb at my desk, each of us unsure of how to start. This had never come up before, we have never had to need to meet and discuss things behind the backs of one of our brothers.

Tyler was the first to break our silence, "This feels wrong."

Tyler was right, hiding and keeping secrets was not a part of how we worked. Yeah we were supposed to hide our true natures from the world, but we weren't supposed to hide things from each other.

Caleb sighed, "What else are we supposed to do? Something is going on, something big, and we have no clue what it is. They're hiding something, I can feel it…I just don't understand why."

Tyler dropped his head into his hands, "Why can't we just ask them? I mean, if it's really something that important, then I'm sure they'll tell us."

Tyler may have been sure, but I wasn't.

We had an agreement, no secrets within the Covenant, nothing was to be hidden among our families. But the current generation of Parrys were not holding up their end of the deal. The last few weeks were proof of that. All the silent conversations, pointed looks and nervous glances had to add up to something.

At first I thought it was just me being paranoid, but then Caleb told me he saw them too. And on top of that, Caleb had been waking in the middle of the night. We all remembered the last time that happened and it wasn't pretty. Tyler had been too preoccupied to pick up on what we had, mainly because he was too busy with Melanie to have the time or attention span to notice. That's why he was so quick to shoot down our concern.

I finally spoke up, "Like it or not Tyler, Caleb's right. Something is going on and if it's so bad that it has Pogue and Willow keeping secrets from us, then we know something major is going down."

"How do we know it isn't just something personal between the two of them? Like maybe Pogue's dad is stirring up trouble again?"

"Because," Caleb answered, "the last time that happened, Pogue turned to me and Willow went to Reid. If it was something as simple as Nicolas Parry disapproving of Pogue's choices, then they wouldn't be as secretive about it."

"Are you sure though? Are you sure that you two aren't reading too much into things? I mean, I know I've been distracted but you would think I would have noticed something too."

I sighed, "But that's just it Tyler, you_ have_ been distracted. Not that that's a bad thing, I think I speak for everyone when I say we're glad that you've finally snagged your girl. But it doesn't change the fact that the signs are there. Everything points to the same place, there are too many signals for them to be coincidences."

"Like what?"

"Like the looks. The looks that they shoot each other. It's like Pogue is trying to get Will to do something and Willow always glares at him to back down. Or the glances Pogue throws her way whenever she yawns. Which, not to mention, has been a lot more often lately."

"Wait…so Willow yawning and Pogue exhibiting concern for his cousin is cause for alarm? Ever think that maybe Willow just isn't getting enough sleep?" Tyler shook his head and shot me a disbelieving look.

"It's more than that," Caleb interjected, "she comes to breakfast not just tired, but exhausted at least three days a week. Which doesn't prove anything I know, but whenever she does, it just so happens that I wake up in a cold sweat the night before."

Tyler's face fell, "What?" He definitely remembered the last time this had happened.

Caleb continued, "At first I thought that it was nothing, but then Reid started pointing out Willow's mood swings and exhaustion. I started noticing the pattern, every time I woke up in the middle of the night, Willow would walk in the next morning half awake. And it's been getting worse, I can feel it. Every night that I wake up it's a little more intense."

"That and whenever Caleb has tried to tell Pogue about this, he just brushes it off. Deflecting and starting on a different topic," I added.

Tyler nodded his head, the information finally sinking in. "We need to do something about this. We need to talk to them. If this is anything like what happened with Chase, then we need everything out in the open _now_."

"Agreed," Caleb nodded sharply. Then he turned to me, "Are you going to be okay with this Reid. I know how complicated things are between you and Willow."

"It's fine, it needs to be done," I answered.

Truth be told, things have changed between us the past few weeks. I've never had as much fun as I did that first night at Nikki's, playing pool and dancing with Willow. After that I had tried to step everything up, tried getting close enough to go for what I wanted. But then all this started happening, I started seeing the changes in Willow and paying attention to her interactions with Pogue. It was then I knew she was hiding something and I was hurt that she would hide anything from me. So in retaliation, I started pulling away more and more as I saw her actions and moods became more erratic. It was killing me to have this distance between us when we had already been separated for 6 years. But it had to be done, secrets were not something I wanted in a relationship.

"So," I said looking between the two of them, "how are we gonna do this? The Sanctum?" It was our safe zone, the one place where we could use freely and the only place I where I knew Pogue and Willow would be comfortable giving us answers.

"The Sanctum," Caleb repeated.

Tyler merely nodded his consent.

I was about to ask how we were going to get them there when Caleb's phone went off. He looked down and I saw his shoulders stiffen.

"It's Pogue," he said as he brought the phone to his ear. "Hey man…Nothing much, just hanging around with Tyler and Reid. How was breakfast with Willow?...That's cool. Say hi back…Uh no, Sara's back in Boston with her family so I don't have any plans. Why?...The Sanctum? Tonight?...Yeah sure, I'll be there…Yeah 10 is fine. I'll tell the others…See ya man, bye."

"What was that?" Tyler shot out before I could even open my mouth.

"Pogue wants us to meet him and Willow at the Sanctum tonight at 6:30."

"Yeah, we got that. What else did he say?" I snapped.

Caleb shook his head, "Just that they needed us to meet up. Nothing else."

Tyler nodded, "Well at least now we don't have to figure out how to get them to the Sanctum for our talk, it seems they've done the work for us."

"Yeah, now we just have to figure out how we're gonna bring it up." Caleb rubbed his eyes, a clear sign that he was stressed.

"I don't think we have to worry too much about that," I answered truthfully, "I have a feeling that what they'll want to talk about is the same thing we want to talk about."

We looked at each other and nodded, clearly relieved to soon have everything out in the open yet equally nervous of what we might find out.

____________________________

A/N: Holy cow...was that actual plot progression up there? Ant to think, it _only took me 10 chapters to get to it._

_So I guess there is nothing I can say but sorry...it has been far too long since I have updated and I can only blame a mixture of stress, school and writer's block. Anyway, thanks to everyone who stuck with me even though its been forever since I updated. Speaking of updates, I'm hoping to have another one sometime the week, probably on Thursday. Once again thanks for reading/alerting/reviews and all that good stuff._

Let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: We all know I don't own anything that isn't Willow and this particular story...otherwise it would not be called fanfiction


	13. The Truth

**Willow's POV**

I was pacing, I couldn't help it. I was getting restless and the only way my body knew how to cope with it was to pace. I'm pretty sure that by now I had worn a groove into the old stone floor. Any minute now, my friends, my brothers would walk down those stone steps and everything could change forever.

Tonight was the night I was going to tell them everything. I owed this to them and they deserved the truth, no matter how bad their reactions may be. I was afraid of what they were going to say, of the look in their eyes that would reflect their anger and disappointment at my betrayal.

But most of all, I was afraid of losing them. Of losing the bond that we had forged over the past 18 years. I didn't want to lose them again, I've lived the past 6 years without them and I don't think I can handle being separated again. I just hope that they need me as much as I need them.

And then there was Reid. The arrogant, smirking, idiotic boy that I cared far too much about. I thought things were progressing after that first night at Nikki's. We had played pool that night, where I oh so conveniently let him win and danced a few times, once to 'Walk This Way' by Aerosmith...which I recognized was the song from my dreams. He had been walking me to class, meeting me in the morning before breakfast, carrying my books. We had starting spending more time together, studying or hanging out just the two of us. Every day I hoped that he would just suck it up and ask me out because I sure as hell wasn't going to make the first move. Reid liked his masculine pride and I knew that if I did anything to further out relationship it would only come back around and bite me in the butt.

But he had become distant the past few weeks and I wasn't sure why, but I suspected that he knew something was going on. He was always the intuitive one, the one that could tell that something was wrong. I just hope that tonight wouldn't drive a wedge between us that could never be removed.

"Willow, will you please just sit down and stay still!" Pogue's voice ripped me out of my thoughts.

I stopped mid-stride and turned to see him sitting in his stone chair, "Fine, you don't have to snap at me. Tonight is stressful enough as is." I felt the power crackle at my fingertips and I knew my eyes had darkened, just like they always did whenever I felt a combination of extreme stress, anger and worry.

He raised his hands palms up in surrender, "I'm sorry. It's just your pacing isn't going to help anything."

I took a deep breath and willed the excess energy away. "I guess you're right," I conceded. "What is it you suggest I do?"

He pointed to the chair on his right, "Just sit down and try to relax. Don't get yourself to worked up over this. There's no turning back now."

I sighed and did as he said, I knew he was right. There was no getting out of this. It was now or never.

Ten minutes and a lot of deep cleansing breaths later, I heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stone staircase.

_You can do this Willow. Just relax and it will all be over soon._

Pogue looked over at me and gave me a slight nod before standing up. "Hey guys."

There were mumbled responses before I saw Caleb, Reid and Tyler take their seats. Reid looked up at me and our gazes caught. I was vaguely aware of the wary glances from Tyler and Caleb, but my main focus was the look of intense worry and apprehension that was on Reid's face.

"Hey Willow," Tyler called out, breaking my concentration.

"Hey Ty," I responded before turning to the other arrivals. "Caleb, Reid." They nodded their responses and I dropped my eyes to the stone platform in front of us, trying to will my nerves into submission.

We sat there for a few minutes in complete silence, none of us wanting to speak up first. After what seemed like an eternity, Caleb shattered the silence.

"Look, we know something is going on," he stated plainly. My eyes immediately locked with Pogue's and my heart started racing. "We just want to know what it is," he pleaded.

I looked around and saw Reid and Tyler staring at me intensely. Then I once again turned to Pogue who nodded his head.

"It's time Willow."

I stood slowly and taking a deep breath before pulling the pages of parchment from my back pocket. "I guess there's no beating around the bush on this one. You all seem to know that Pogue and I are hiding something. It's time you found out."

I turned my head toward the stone bookcase that held to most important thing in our shared history. Extending my hand, I felt my eyes turn black as the Power surged through my arm and into my fingertips as I willed the ancient text to the center stone. As I knew it would, it rose smoothly off the shelf and moved toward the center of the platform, waiting for my next command.

I hesitated before looking around at the guys and seeing the looks of shock on three of the four faces.

Tyler was the first to recover, "What?"

"How?" Caleb whispered.

But Reid remained silent. His expression changed from concerned to confused, then finally to stony in a matter of seconds.

I slowly released the pages I held in my hand, reluctant to begin the explanation. No longer in my grasp, the pages flew toward the book at an alarming speed.

We watched as the book opened and the missing pages found their rightful places within the text, binding themselves as if they had never been removed. The flames circling the stone platform burned with renewed intensity before subsiding as the book again closed.

Once again, I took in the expressions of the four around me. Pogue looked apprehensive, Caleb was alarmed and Tyler confused as Reid's face remained blank.

I took a deep breath before I launched into an explanation that would surely shock all but Pogue.

_Its now or never. No turning back now._

"In 1694, two years after the Covenant was formed Katherine Parry, wife of Patrick Parry gave birth to a son. An hour after the birth, she slipped into a stupor and when she finally came to, the words of The Prophesy fell from her lips. She died only moments after due to complications from the birth. Fortunately, the patriarchs of the bloodlines were present and able to transcribe her words and place them in the book.

"It states that in the line of Parrys there will be a generation that will give rise to two sons, twins. Something that was thought impossible, as each generation would only birth one child from each bloodline…"

Then Caleb interrupted me, "No, each line has one son as a result of the covenant. They created that rule to prevent sibling rivalry since the Power would only manifests in the firstborn son."

"No Caleb," Pogue's voice rang in, "That was just an elaborate lie that was created as a result of the Prophesy."

"I don't understand," Tyler said, shaking his head.

I looked from him to Caleb, "Have you ever wondered how that 'rule' was able to be carried through over all those generations? Or how every single firstborn child in every generation was male? It's because the Power makes it impossible for any other option to occur. Each bloodline in every generation can give rise to only one child, a son that will be heir to the Power."

"Until 50 years ago," Reid whispered. I was shocked as this was the first time words had passed through his lips since he descended the staircase.

Tyler's eyes lit up with recognition, "Nicolas and Sebastian Parry."

"Your fathers," Caleb added while looking between Pogue and me.

Pogue nodded, "Yes, the twins from the Prophesy."

"That still doesn't explain how you were able to move the book the way you did." Caleb said turning to me.

"There's more to the Prophesy." I looked to the book and opened it to the page that held an explanation for my existence. I extended my palm to turn it towards the three that had never read the words, before I recited the lines that would forever be etched in my memory.

"_Twins shall be born to the Parry line. The first shall be the heir to the Power and sworn member of the Covenant. The second shall give rise to another child, one whom shall shatter all previous expectations. The child will be a daughter, the first in any generation since the Power manifested within the five. She too will be an heir, a vessel to the Power, though she will be different."_

"_She will be granted the gift of Sight. It will plague her dreams and flood her senses as she will be given glimpses of things to come. Be them moments of joy or sorrow, peace or war, she will see all."_ I stopped reciting the Prophesy and dropped the book on the stone slab before closing to swiftly.

"Wait!" Caleb swiftly rose from his chair. "There's more, something else on that page."

"Caleb, please," Pogue pleaded. He knew what I omitted and why.

"No Pogue, no more hiding. No more secrets. No more lies!"

I held my hands in surrender, no longer having the will to argue. "Its fine, Pogue. Caleb's right, I can't handle hiding anything from anyone anymore."

Pogue turned to me, silently asking if I was sure about what I had decided. I could only nod and try to give him a reassuring look, but in truth I was not ready for what I was about to do.

"So what did the last line say?" Tyler pressed, now as eager as Caleb to air out our secrets.

I glanced at Reid before closing my eyes and proceeding in a whisper, "_The daughter of the line of Parrys shall join the Garwin heir, strengthening the descendants of their union."_

I heard a sharp intake of air from my right, and knew immediately that it was Reid. I opened my eyes slowly and turned my head toward him, reluctant to meet his gaze. But that never happened, Reid's eyes were locked on the book, with his jaw set and his lips pursed in a tight line.

The five of us sat in silence, all of us unsure as to what to say next. Finally though, I couldn't take it anymore, I needed to know what was going through his mind.

"Reid…," I started timidly.

His head snapped sharply in my direction, anger and betrayal evident in his eyes. Then, without a word, he stood up and stormed out of the room.

I looked around and saw that the others shared my look of shock and alarm at Reid's sudden departure.

Pogue rose his shoulders apologetically before slouching in his seat. Caleb dropped his head into his hands, elbows on his knees. Tyler simply tilted his head back and closed his eyes.

_Well that went well._

_____________________________________

A/N: Well there you have it, the big reveal. Hopefully it didn't disappoint you all too much. Don't worry though it doesn't stop here, just because Reid stormed out doesn't mean Caleb and Tyler don't have anything to say to the Parry cousins.

Here's a bit of warning...I have three killer upper division chemistry midterms over the next 10 days, so I can guarantee that there will be no new chapters for at least 2 weeks. I know what is gonna happen in the next one, but I haven't got the time to write it out quite yet. I trying to learn how to balance studying with writing and having some sort of social life (well as much of a social life as a Chem major can have). I promise though, you WILL be getting new chapters. I'm thinking two, maybe three more before we get into the fun conflict...personally I don't think Willow's screwed with Caleb's life enough quite yet.

So thanks in advance for sticking with me and thanks again for making it this far. Let me know what you think! (But as usual, please try and be nice...with my microscopic ego and all). Also, quick thanks to QueenofWeird1995 for the reviews and encouragement.

Disclaimer: No, I may not own the Covenant, but I did think up a pretty kick-ass heroine if I do say so myself.

PS: I've been writing sans-beta, as I am sure it is obvious, but I am thinking that it would be nice to have someone give me feedback and check grammar before I post to the masses. That and it would be nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of. Just saying...(and yes that was my sorry attempt at fishing for a beta that actually likes this story)

All that being said, I'm thinking posts will come about every 7-9 days (with the aforementioned exception) as I am now absolutely positive as to where the story is going BUT I need time to write and get the greenlight from said possible-beta.


	14. Another Dose of Truth

**Caleb POV**

_Shit. What did I just do?_

The second Reid stormed out I knew that I just made a huge mistake. Not wanting to face Willow, I immediately dropped my head into my hands.

After what felt like an eternal silence I looked up to see the others with resigned faces. Willow looked exhausted and just about ready to pass out.

Finally I broke the silence, "Willow…" She looked up at me. "I didn't…I'm so-," I tried to continue.

She held her hand up to stop me. "It's okay Caleb. You didn't know. And whose fault was that other than mine?"

Pogue shook his head. "Don't say that Will. This wasn't your choice._ You_ didn't choose to hide this from them."

"What do you mean?" Tyler finally spoke.

"It was our fathers," Willow whispered.

"Like Nicolas and Sebastian? Or…," I questioned. There was something about her tone that made me think otherwise.

"No," Pogue answered, knowing what I was asking. "All of them, yours, Tyler's, even Reid's."

I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. "I don't understand. Why would they keep something like this from us?"

This wasn't just about Willow or Reid or even the two of them together. This was about our Covenant. And we have a right to know about anything that affects our Covenant.

"They were afraid of what the second half of the prophesy might cause."

"Meaning what exactly?"

""Meaning, they didn't want Reid and I to feel obligated to be with each other. They didn't want us knowing about the prophesy and then trying to force it into be true," Willow explained.

"Why not? If it's going to happen, why fight it? Why not just make it happen?" Tyler blurted out. The look on his face showed that he knew the second the words passed his lips, that they were a mistake.

Pogue shot Tyler a glare, "Could you imagine being told at thirteen that you have already met the person you are going to spend your life with? Imagine not having the option to go out and make that decision on your own just because of some stupid prophesy."

"Relax Pogue," Willow said to her cousin, once again playing mediator for our Covenant. "I'm sure Tyler didn't mean it like that. He's just overwhelmed with all this information we're unloading."

Pogue rolled his eyes, "Whatever." Then he looked between me and Tyler, "I don't care how you mean it, but if you say anything else that attacks Willow in any way, shape or form, I _will_ hurt you."

We fell into another silence. However, not as awkward as the last. I knew that Willow and Pogue were just giving us a minute to process all this information.

This time, it was Tyler that was the first to speak.

His brow folded as he spoke, "So what does this mean for us?"

Pogue looked at Tyler, his voice mimicking his serious expression, "It means we have a Fifth. Willow's one of us, always has been, always will be."

Tyler let out a gust of air, "Oh thank god. I am so glad that we don't have to think of that nutjob Chase as our Fifth."

Pogue and I laughed while sharing a knowing smile. That 'nutjob,' as Tyler so affectionately deemed him, was never one of us. He may have been a member of one of the original five bloodlines, but he would never be a part of our Covenant.

"Well," Willow spoke up, "I may not be a crazy, but I am a handful. Think you guys can handle that?"

My mouth drew up into a smirk, "Oh I think we can manage." That sent all of us into a fit of much needed laughter.

We spent the next hour remembering old times and making jokes at the one another's expense. Then it dawned on me...

"Willow?" I said amongst the laughter.

She took a breath to calm down and looked at me. "Yeah?"

"You're 18th birthday is in less than three weeks."

Suddenly the carefree laughter was gone. Pogue looked worried and Tyler's interest was piqued.

"It is," Willow answered softly.

"So what does that mean for you? Do you Ascend? Is that how it works with you?"

"I don't know." This time her voice was barely above a whisper.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Tyler abruptly interjected.

"Exactly that," Willow explained. "We have no idea whether or not I Ascend."

I spoke up, tired of these cryptic responses. "Okay, you're going to have to break this down for us because I sure as hell don't understand," confusion was evident in my voice.

Pogue tried to explain, "The way the Power works is different for her. With us, there were people with past experience that could help us through it. Generations of heirs have gone through what we have. The pattern is predictable: The Power manifests at 13, strengthens at 16 and then we Ascend on our 18th birthday.

It's not the same in Willow's case. There's no one she can draw experience from. So far her path has been similar, but we can't predict what's going to happen."

I turned from Pogue to Willow, "So what has been your pattern? What's been different?"

"So far, the timeline has stayed the same. But the experiences aren't," she answered. "When the Power first manifested, two weeks after I left, I was unconscious for 4 hours. Then when I turned sixteen, I didn't wake up for three days and when I did, I could barely move. None of you had the physical aftershocks that I went through.

Everything just seems more intense and unpredictable. It's almost useless trying to guess when you have no clue as to what might happen. As far as we can tell, if I _do_ Ascend, it will be violent and there might be some physical effect on my body. But there's no real way to be sure."

Tyler cleared his throat and sat straight up. "So three weeks, we have a little less than three weeks to try and prepare for anything possible."

"Theres n-," Willow tried to argue but Tyler rose his hand to stop her.

He stood up from his stone chair and knelt in front of her. "Willow, I'm sure between the five of us, we'll have all the worst case scenarios thought of. Then it's just a matter of getting ready to deal with any or all of them. And even if we're not ready, we'll at least be there to help you through it."

After a moment, Willow lifted her head and we all saw the sadness in her eyes. "Ty, I only see four of us here," she spoke quietly.

This time Pogue and I were the ones to stand and move toward Willow. Pogue placed his hand on her back to comfort her, while I lightly squeezed her shoulder.

"Will," Pogue began, "He's just upset. I'm sure he'll come around soon."

Willow nodded unconvincingly before dropping her eyes to her hands. "I really hope you're right," she whispered almost inaudibly.

* * *

A/N: Sorry? There really isn't much more I can say. Tons of thanks to everyone who has stuck with me through this unbearably long period of writer's block. So I'm thinking another 2-3 more chapters and this baby will be wrapped up. I know it seems fast but the extended story line I had in mind doesn't really fit anymore. Besides, I wasn't originally planning on this story being very long. Once all of that is written and posted, I'll probably go back and fix/tweak things so the story flows a little better. Thanks again for reading/alerting/favoriting and most especially reviewing. Those reviews are what continually bring me back to my keyboard.

Disclaimer: I own nothing Covenant related apart from a copy of the DVD. I can lay claim to Willow though :)


	15. Two Weeks

**Willow's POV**

It had been two weeks since I sat down and spilled my guts. Two weeks since I unloaded the secret that had been weighing me down for the last 6 years. I have to admit, it did make me feel better...sort of.

But it had also been two weeks

...fourteen days

...three hundred and thirty-six hours

...twenty thousand, one hundred and sixty minutes

...one million, two hundred and nine thousand, six hundred seconds since Reid last spoke to me.

If I were being completely honest, it was killing me. I wish I could say that it didn't hurt. I wish I could say that I was strong enough that something like being ignored or resented didn't have an affect on me. I wish I could say that I was one of those girls that didn't care what a boy she liked did. Unfortunately, I am clearly not.

I had gone six years without being able to see him, speak to him in person, spend time with him. I had hoped that in coming back, I would be able to have my cake and eat it too. But my sad, sorry circumstances were proof that you couldn't.

He was avoiding me and there was no way I could blame him. I had dumped a whole lot of information on him and frankly Pogue was right, I had waited too long.

I just wish that our fathers hadn't forced silence on me in the years I wasn't in Ipswich. Maybe if he had known, our six year distance would have given him enough time to deal with whatever he must be dealing with now. But he didn't, so wondering 'what if' is useless to me now. That is one thing that our Power can't do...turn back time. Oh, how convenient that would be.

Time, time. I just had to hope that with enough time I would be able to fix whatever was broken between the two of us. I just had to hope that eventually, he would be receptive to my apologies. Unfortunately for now, I had to be selfless and give him the space that he so clearly wanted.

All I had was hope.

**Pogue's POV**

Caleb, Tyler and I were lounging on the bleachers watching Willow as she was perched on the diving board. This had become a nightly occurrence for her. To make her way down to the pool and sit for hours in silence.

The first night we found out about this, Caleb had been woken by whatever surge of Power Willow had emitted during her 'dreams'. His first action was to call Tyler and have him check on Willow immediately, then he picked me and dragged me to Spencer in the middle of the night. To say that I was not a happy camper was an understatement.

That was, until he explained that after talking it out with Willow, they discovered there was a direct connection between her dreams and Caleb's unfortunate wake-up calls. Needless to say, I demanded that his foot shove the gas pedal to the floor of his Mustang. Willow needed us, especially after what she had gone through.

When we got there, Caleb gave Tyler a call and was relayed some surprising information. Tyler had made his way down to Willow's room just as she was leaving. Naturally worried, he had followed her to the pool and was shocked by what he saw.

She was sitting on the springboard and had pulled the water around her, as if it were some protective bubble. I had to see it with my own eyes to believe his words. But he was right, there she sat, surrounded by water, her head on her knees and shoulders dropped in defeat.

It was heartbreaking and remarkable at the same time. None of us, not even Caleb who had twice our Power, had that sort of control. But the involvement of the water, that wasn't surprising. When we were little, whenever she was upset you could always find her sitting in the pool house on her estate. She always said there was something about the water that was calming, that soothed her, worked her back from whatever emotional state that she was in.

She saw us though, probably because we had made no effort to hide ourselves. She released her hold on the water and it dropped back into the pool, then she called out to us.

"I'm fine...I just, need this."

We nodded and silently communicated with our expressions that none of us were leaving her here when she was this vulnerable.

So, every night since then, Caleb would call us when he woke and we would make our way to the pool, knowing that she would be there. This was time she needed, this was something that she needed to do.

Sometimes she sat there for thirty minutes, other nights it would be hours. We knew that there was a correlation between how long she stayed out and how intense her dreams were. The nights she stayed out the longest were the nights that Caleb was most violently thrown from his sleep. Unfortunately, none of us could get her to talk. Nothing we did could coax any information from her guarded brain.

Tonight, was going to be a long one. Caleb didn't even have to say anything, the look on his face told us everything we needed to know.

"Bad night?" Tyler asked, just wanting verbal confirmation.

"Oh yeah," Caleb answered, his exhaustion evident in his voice. "I hope you've brought something to occupy yourselves with. We're going to be here for a while."

"I'm one step ahead of you," Tyler said as he pulled a textbook from his bag.

I took off my leather jacket and retrieved my iPod from the pocket before laying it down on the bench.

Caleb pulled out an old leather bound book from his coat. It was something that we were all familiar with. It was only one of a series of journals that were housed on the stone shelves of the Sanctum. Those journals documented every ascension since the our families settled in Ipswich. Caleb was doing research, or at least trying to, in order to be as prepared as possible for what we knew was going to happen in less than a week.

He was reading through the most violent tales, studying how the other members of the Covenant had helped with ascending person through the experience. It was because of these stories that our generation had agreed to be present at each others' ascensions. The others were around when I, then Reid, had gone through the Power exchange. The only one who didn't have another person there was Caleb and that was all because of that asshat Chase.

Ascending was an intense experience, one that is difficult to understand and scary to undergo. Now throwing in the uncertainty of Willow's situations, things became even more worrisome. We were trying to prepare for the worst, because that was all we could do. So we were all determined to be there for Willow.

"So have you found anything interesting yet?" I asked as he opened to a yellows page in the journal.

"Umm," Caleb hesitated, causing Tyler to look up from his Chemistry book. "Actually, yeah."

I stiffened and rose from slouched position. "Well," I pressed expectedly, "What did you find?"

Caleb shook his head, "Listen, there's no guarantee that..."

"Caleb, cut the crap and tell us already!" Tyler demanded.

Caleb and I sat in shocked silence, the youngest of our group had never dared bark an order like that in the years that we had known him.

"No, you're right. Any information could help." Caleb nodded slowly, "But I have to warn you, you're not going to like what I'm going to say."

"We don't have to like it. I just want to know." I told him.

"Okay." Caleb took a breath before continuing. "I've gone through a lot of the more intense ascensions a found that there was on thing that seemed to help the person ascending.

"They tried a lot of things: sedatives, spells, tying people down. None of those ever worked. The one thing that did was contact with a person."

"Contact with a person?" Tyler repeated with disbelief.

"Yeah," Caleb answered. "But not just any person, it was always a loved one. The Covenant member's soulmate." His voice trailed off to a whisper as he ended his sentence.

"Reid," I heard Tyler mutter.

"Reid," Caleb confirmed.

"Damn it," I swore. "How is that going to work if Reid has been avoiding her like the plague the past few weeks? And on top of that, she won't let any of us try to talk any sense into him."

The silence that followed was staggering. All of us trying to work out how this would work.

"Screw it," Tyler exclaimed.

Once again, Caleb and I looked at him in shock.

"I'm tired of this," he said, simply. "It's gone on too long. We've given Reid enough time to be a jackass. Now that we know this might help Willow out, we need to talk to him. Hell, I know this silence is killing both of them. There is no denying it, he's always awake when I get back to the room after a night like this. He cares and now its time for him to pull his head out of his ass."

"But Willow..." Caleb trailed off, worriedly.

"Willow is just trying to protect Reid. Tyler's right, it is time that we stepped in." I asserted.

"So...when?" He asked.

"Monday, at lunch." Tyler responded.

"Lunch? He's been in the library during lunch every day this week. We can't do anything in the library, there are too many people around." Caleb questioned.

"No," Tyler shook his head, "He hasn't. He's been hiding out in the dorms, trying to survive on Hot Pockets and soda."

"Alright," I agreed, "So lunch in your room. What are we going to do about Willow? She's going to know something is up if we're all MIA during that hour."

"I think we should just tell her. Just sit her down and talk to her tomorrow night. We'll just explain what's going on and why we need to do this."

"Actually," Caleb hedged. "I do need to talk to Willow. These wake up calls are getting more and more intense. I think she's hiding something and we need to get it out of her."

"You're right," I said. "She is hiding something...again. Okay, tomorrow night dinner in Willow's room?"

The guys nodded their approval.

"I'll let her know."

That was the last sentence uttered that night. Tyler went back to trying to study and Caleb went back to reading. I sat listening to music, trying to put together some kind of game plan for the talks that would happen over the next few days.

I hope they go well.

* * *

A/N: Alrighty, I have had major writer's block up until last night. I had a huge epiphany and wrote this out in just over an hour. I hope its okay, but at least I have some direction now. Please let me know if you like it. Thanks to everyone who has stuck around during these super long breaks between postings. I know how annoying it is, but I can't help it. Forgive me?

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Willow and the story line. But like I said, I love how cool Willow is so I'm alright with that.

Thanks for the past reviews/Author Alerts/Faves and all that other good stuff.

As always, if you have the time Reviews are most welcome.


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